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Northamptonshire have awarded David Sales a benefit for next season. He is the captain and the club’s longest-serving player of the current staff. Sales, 28, joined in 1994 and has been captain since 2004.”I am very grateful to the club for offering me a benefit next year,” said Sales. “2006 has been a year of change and I am sure together we can help the club build on the foundations currently being laid”.So far in his first-class career he has amassed 8640 runs, at 39.81, with a highest score of 303 not out.

Imran Khan has joined the chorus of voices criticising the dustbowl at the Wankhede Stadium which produced a two-day Test between India and Australia. Speaking to Press Trust of India in Jaipur, Imran urged home associations to desist the urge to produce tailor-made tracks.”Every country has a right to prepare the kind of wickets which suit their own bowlers. But there has to be a limit. If something is not done soon to curb this trend, cricket is sure to suffer,” Imran said. “In order to gain victory in front of their own countrymen, every team is going too far to prepare pitches favouring their own bowlers. This will ruin interest of the spectators.”India achieved a consolation win at Mumbai, but the pitch for the game came in for widespread flak, with Ricky Ponting calling it “nowhere near being close to Test standard”. Forty wickets fell in 202 overs, 13 of them in a frenetic final session of play on the third day.

England’s selectors today announced their preliminary squad of 30 for this year’s ICC Champions Trophy in September. Despite the disappointing results in this year’s NatWest Series, in which England failed to reach the final, every member of that squad made the cut, as well as ten uncapped players.The Warwickshire pair of Ian Bell and Mark Wagh were included, along with Richard Dawson, the Yorkshire offspinner who has played seven Tests. Others included last winter’s England A team captain Alex Gidman and Jonathan Lewis from Gloucestershire, Graham Napier, the Essex allrounder, and Chris Tremlett, the tall fast bowler from Hampshire. Glamorgan had three representatives in Michael Powell (who was a late call-up to the NatWest Series but didn’t actually play), Simon Jones and Alex Wharf. The squad will be trimmed down to 14 by August 10.”Our ultimate goal as selectors is to build a side for the World Cup in 2007,” said David Graveney, England’s chairman of selectors. “The make-up of this squad gives a good indication as to the type of team we are looking to develop and the particular roles we are looking to fill within it.”He continued: “There are ten players in this provisional squad who have not yet played one-day international cricket, and we will continue to experiment with new players as we seek the right blend between experience and youth ahead of 2007.”Graveney also added that the selectors had thought of picking Mark Butcher, who has played 69 Tests but not a single one-day international, and said that although he didn’t make the squad, he was still in their thoughts: “Mark previously intimated that he did not want to play both forms of international cricket because he was concerned about the impact on his fitness,” Graveney said. “However, he has recently indicated that he would now like to be considered for our one-day side, and as the season progresses we will be watching with interest his performances for Surrey in the Twenty20 Cup and the National League.”The Champions Trophy starts on Sept 10 – England take on Zimbabwe at Edgbaston while New Zealand play the United States at The Oval – with the final, also at The Oval, on Sept 25.England provisional squad for Champions Trophy
Michael Vaughan (capt), Kabir Ali, James Anderson, Gareth Batty, Ian Bell, Ian Blackwell, Rikki Clarke, Paul Collingwood, Richard Dawson, Andrew Flintoff, Alex Gidman, Ashley Giles, Darren Gough, Stephen Harmison, Geraint Jones (wk), Simon Jones, Robert Key, James Kirtley, Jonathan Lewis, Anthony McGrath, Sajid Mahmood, Graham Napier, Michael Powell, Chris Read (wk), Vikram Solanki, Andrew Strauss, Chris Tremlett, Marcus Trescothick, Mark Wagh, Alex Wharf.

In the maroon corner, the man with centuries in each of his last five home Tests against Australia. In the baggy green, the man who has dismissed his opponent on 13 occasions in Test cricket, almost twice as often as any other player. Without question, the third Test between West Indies and Australia will be dominated by the contest between two men, Brian Lara and Glenn McGrath.It would be stretching credulity to suggest that Australia have missed McGrath, who flew home ahead of the series after his wife fell ill, and returned midway through the second Test. With the Frank Worrell Trophy in the bag, a series whitewash is looming large against a team that fielded only three frontline bowlers in Trinidad and has seemingly abandoned the art of wicket-taking.But in the absence of his nemesis, Lara has run amok, scoring 349 runs in four innings with inimitable panache. While he and Ramnaresh Sarwan were chiselling towards their final-day target at Port-of-Spain, Australia’s 2003 Test record was in danger of reading: played three, lost two.The Lara factor is the one reason why Australia are taking nothing for granted in the bowling department. For the first time since the Perth Test of 1991-92, when Shane Warne was an international toddler, they are set to take the field with four seamers, which means a reprieve for the usual fall-guy in such situations, Andy Bichel, whose superlative year continued with three important wickets in the afternoon session in Trinidad.Stuart MacGill is certain to be retained, after picking up ten wickets in the recent match against the University of West Indies, so Australia will once again rely on the six batsmen who have rustled up the small matter of 1264 runs for the loss of 14 wickets so far this series. Steve Waugh, who wasn’t even required to bat in the last match, has probably relished Lara’s challenge more than anyone. As he said after the Ashes, "It’s all a bit easy these days".All the same, there were some concerns about McGrath’s lack of match fitness after he picked up three wickets in a gentle warm-up against the University XI. "He’s a fair way behind where he would like to be," said Waugh. "He’s gradually getting better, but he’s still short of a bowl, there’s no doubt about that. He’s got to trust himself and we’ve got to trust him that he’s bowled the right amount of overs. But he’s a great performer and he’ll lift for the Test match.”It may be a sign of the times, but Waugh’s greatest concerns were reserved for the state of the opposition, in particular their lack of bowling penetration. “The wickets have been really slow and it’s a major problem over here for cricket in the Caribbean," said Waugh. "They’re not going to produce any quick bowlers if they keep putting pitches out like that. There’s no encouragement for them; it’s too much hard work."The trio of Merv Dillon, Pedro Collins and Vasbert Drakes, backed up by David Bernard’s ineffectual seamers, were roundly criticised for their lack of incisiveness at Trinidad, and it seems certain that Jermaine Lawson, who missed that match with chickenpox, will be drafted in to give the attack a little more oomph. Tino Best, on his home ground, will make his debut, as will 21-year-old offspinner Omari Banks. Carlton Baugh is also retained after Ridley Jacobs failed to recover from the groin strain he picked up in the first Test. But cosmetic changes will have little impact on Australia’s relentless run machines.As always, West Indies’ best chance of avoiding defeat will come from Australia’s eagerness to force victory – it is 18 months and 16 Tests since Australia were last involved in a draw. In an age where the follow-on has been put out to pasture, Lara and Sarwan – and the sturdy Daren Ganga – will await the size of their fourth-innings run-chase with interest.TeamsWest Indies 1 Chris Gayle, 2 Daren Ganga, 3 Ramnaresh Sarwan, 4 Brian Lara (capt), 5 Shivnarine Chanderpaul, 6 Marlon Samuels, 7 Omari Banks, 8 Carlton Baugh, 9 Vasbert Drakes, 10 Jermaine Lawson, 11 Tino Best.Australia (probable) 1 Matthew Hayden, 2 Justin Langer, 3 Ricky Ponting, 4 Darren Lehmann, 5 Steve Waugh (capt), 6 Adam Gilchrist (wk), 7 Andy Bichel, 8 Brett Lee, 9 Jason Gillespie, 10 Stuart MacGill, 11 Glenn McGrath.

A century by Tonito Willett put West Indies Under-19s into a position where they are almost certain to clinch the three-Test series against their English counterparts.Already holding a 29-run first innings lead, they had resumed the third day on a promising 193 for three, with Narsingh Deonarine and Willett linking up impressively.Bad weather at the Riverside held up the visitors’ progress but once play resumed Willett went on to make 103 before he was caught by Nicky Peng after being lured into a rash stroke by James Tredwell. The Kent youngster finished with two for 48 and was the pick of the English bowlers.Together with Deonarine, 89 not out at the close, Willet added 170 for the fourth wicket to put West Indies firmly in the driving seat.Omari Banks joined Deonarine at the crease and added three before stumps, withWest Indies on 322 for four.

ScorecardRichard Levi lets fly during his unbeaten innings•Getty Images

Richard Levi’s superb 67 in just 28 balls kept up Northamptonshire’s push for the NatWest T20 Blast quarter-finals and effectively eliminated Leicestershire with a nine-wicket win at Wantage Road. Levi slammed his 21st T20 fifty as Northamptonshire gunned down a target of 112 in a 10-over contest with nine balls to spare and ensured Grant Elliott’s own fine innings of 56 in 29 balls for Leicestershire was in a losing cause.The first over of the chase went for just five but Levi and Josh Cobb began the launch by taking 22 and then 25 from the next two overs. Cobb struck five fours in the third before holing out to long-on. The wicket mattered not as Levi and Ben Duckett steered Northamptonshire home remarkably comfortably in a stand of 65 in 30 balls.Levi was typically strong off his legs and took 20 off the fifth over as Leicestershire failed to find any way to contain the South African, who passed fifty in 19 balls. By the halfway stage the target was reduced to just 37 from 30 balls.Clint McKay, Leicestershire’s Australian overseas bowler, was surprisingly kept back until the seventh over but, by that stage, the damage was done and there was time for a Duckett scoop and two beautifully placed cover drives before Levi completed the chase with his ninth four.It was a fine conclusion to an afternoon blighted by rain. An initial 19-over match from 2.45pm was revised by another shower and, when play did get underway at 4.50pm, Leicestershire posted what looked like a strong total of 111 for 4 thanks to Elliott.His first boundaries came via thick inside-edges but he quickly found the pace of the wicket, stepping across his stumps to paddle sweep Steven Crook for four and lifted a similar, better timed, stroke for six as Olly Stone returned in the seventh over. A Crook full toss was also heaved over the leg side.In the final over, he flicked two into the leg side to go to a half-century in just 26-balls before driving Azharullah for four over mid-off. His innings included four fours and three sixes.He was ably supported by Ben Raine, who swept his first ball for six over midwicket and sent a bigger sweep over the same region in the sixth over. But he struck only one more boundary as his 19-ball knock featured some sharp running and he shared a stand of 76 in 39-balls with Elliott.It was a fine rally having lost three wickets in the opening three overs. After a long rain delay, Leicestershire suffered a poor start with Aadil Ali bowled off an inside edge via his pad second ball and Ned Eckersley top-edging a pull to mid-off in the second over. When Mark Cosgrove fell two overs later Leicestershire looked in trouble and their eventual recovery was not enough to hold off Northamptonshire.

ScorecardFile photo – Dinda struck four times in two overs to amplify Bengal’s advantage•PTI

Bengal took big strides towards securing their berth in the knockouts as Ashok Dinda struck four times in two overs after Bengal whipped up a total of 444.Dinda had Pallav Kumar Das caught behind off his first ball before having the other opener – Rahul Hazarika – lbw for 1. He followed it with another double-wicket maiden to dash Assam’s hopes of a fightback.Earlier, Shreevats Goswami and Pankaj Shaw built on the platform laid by Sayan Mondal and Sudip Chatterjee. While Goswami went on to strike his maiden first-class century in his 28th match, Shaw was pinned lbw for 99 by left-arm spinner Syed Mohammad. Aamir Gani’s 43-ball 33 pushed the total further before Manoj Tiwary declared the innings at 444 for 6 in 158 overs.
ScorecardResuming on an overnight 284 for 6, Vidarbha surged to 504 thanks to centuries from Ravi Jangid and Aditya Sarwate. The pair added 212 runs for the seventh wicket before Jangid was run out for 110 by Jayant Yadav. Sarwate stayed unbeaten on 103 as S Badrinath called the batsmen in at 504 for 7 in 155 overs. Haryana then began steadily, openers Nitin Saini and Chaitanya Bishnoi taking their side to 53 by stumps on the second day.
ScorecardWickets continued to tumble in Jaipur as Rajasthan were set a target of 230. Basant Mohanty and Alok Chandra Sahoo, who began by routing Rajasthan for 51, reduced the hosts to 7 for 2 in the fourth innings. However, Puneet Yadav launched a counterattack, making 56 out of Rajasthan’s 78.Mohanty and Alok carried on from where they had left off on the opening day as Rajasthan managed only 23 runs to their overnight score before they were rolled over in 27.2 overs. The innings contained four ducks and only three double-digit scores.Pankaj Singh and Aniket Choudhary then took over, sharing eight wickets between them to shoot Odisha out for 129. Ranjit Singh and Alok offered a semblance of resistance with 30s but a first-innings lead of 100 meant that Odisha were ahead on another 16-wicket day.
ScorecardKarnataka, who ended the first day in Pune at 50 for 1, collapsed to 180, right-arm pacer Anupam Sanklecha doing the bulk of the damage with figures of 4 for 58. He was backed up by Nikit Dhumal and Shrikant Mundhe who shared six wickets between them.Mayank Agarwal was the first to go on the second day when he was undone by Sanklecha. Robin Uthappa and Karun Nair both had starts but failed to build on it. Shreyas Gopal then managed 21 but Maharashtra took a first innings lead of 32.Karnataka, however, hit back through Vinay Kumar and S Aravind to reduce Maharashtra to 39 for 4 in 17.5 overs. Just as Karnataka looked to make further inroads, Rahul Tripathi and Kedar Jhadav steadied the innings with an unbroken 31-run partnership.

Richard Pybus has left Middlesex less than six months after being appointed as their first-team coach.In a short statement, Middlesex said that he had “asked to be released from his contract with immediate effect [and] the club has agreed to this request”.Pybus signed a three-year deal in February and joined the county in April after finishing coaching the Titans in South Africa. He had two stints as Pakistan national coach between 1999 and 2003. “We expected Richard to stay with us for two or three years,” Ed Smith, Middlesex’s captain, told The Times. “We all enjoyed working with him and he had the players’ respect. He was an intelligent man and had interesting ideas.”Vinny Codrington, the county’s chief executive, told The Times that the resignation came as a complete surprise. “There were a number of issues in his resignation letter that were personal and not related to the club or the players. His wife had been here for just a month and I suspect he was surprised by the high cost of living here.”Pybus’s decision came on the same day that the side he left to join Middlesex, Titans in South Africa, revealed that they had failed to find a suitable replacement for him. “Maybe the fact that the Titans job is available influenced him, but I don’t know,” Codrington said. “He was the boss there. We specifically wanted a first-team coach as we have a director of cricket. He expected his own office here at Lord’s, but we simply didn’t have room.”John Emburey, who Pybus replaced, will resume a role he stepped down from last year after a dire season saw the county finish bottom of both Championship and one-day leagues.

Former South Africa opener Gary Kirsten has been appointed as a batting consultant for the Warriors for the upcoming season. Kirsten will aid coach Russell Domingo and his assistant, Piet Botha.The Warriors batting was very weak last season and they went down to heavy defeats in their last three matches.”I’ve worked a lot with Gary at batting camps and we’ve got a good rapport,” said Domingo. “It says much for the faith he has in our franchise that a player of Kirsten’s stature is prepared to come on board.”Kirsten is expected in Port Elizabeth for pre-season training in September. He said: “I am delighted to be part of the Warriors and hope that I can play a role in ensuring that the players are prepared for the season ahead.””Gary brings with him an enormous amount of experience and wisdom,” Dave Emslie, the CEO of Cricket Eastern Cape, added. “In retaining his services we are providing our cricketers with a unique opportunity to learn from somebody who has achieved the highest success through hard work and determination. Gary’s experience, expertise and personality will be something that we hope will give the Warriors a competitive edge in their quest to provide the region with a team of which they can be proud.”

Division One

Kent took a leaf out of Surrey’s book and cashed in on a flat Guildford wicket as this match continued to be dominated by the batsmen. Matthew Walker and Justin Kemp put together an undefeated sixth-wicket stand of 206 as Kent closed within 44 runs of Surrey’s 452 for 8 declared. Kemp’s innings was a breakthrough for the South African allrounder, who had previously managed 56 runs in four Championship innings. Walker has had no such problems this summer and reached his third century from 120 balls. Azhar Mahmood was the best Surrey bowler but Ian Salisbury and Nayan Doshi both struggled to exert any control. Surrey’s declaration had earlier denied Kent the chance of a third bowling point after Amjad Khan, Andrew Hall and Min Patel had picked up a wicket each in the morning session.Nottinghamshire ended the second day within one shot of a crushing win over Warwickshire but the umpires ruled play had to finish so the match will have to completed in the morning. Warwickshire subsided for 133 in their second innings with Graeme Swann taking 6 for 57 after David Hussey had helped secure a 122-run first innings lead with an aggressive 77. Swann ran through Warwickshire’s middle and lower order and only Ian Westwood showed any real resistance with 33. In all, 18 wickets clattered during the day and Warwickshire are now on the verge of their third defeat of the season, leaving they grip on the County Championship increasingly weak. Nottinghamshire, though, are continuing to perform impressively and this will be their fifth win.Hampshire suffered their second top order collapse of the match after Sussex gained a slender seven-run lead while 16 wickets tumbled in the day. Three late strikes – two to James Kirtley and one to Mushtaq Ahmed – left Hampshire ahead by just by 15 runs. Richard Montgomerie top-scored for Sussex with 64 and all their middle order chipped in useful contributions. Rana Naved hit 39 from 38 balls before Sean Ervine wrapped up the innings with 5 for 73. Hampshire’s first innings resistance lasted a further 12.1 overs during the morning session, Nic Pothas was trapped lbw by Mushtaq for 135.1st dayOwais Shah made his third Championship century of the summer to give Middlesex a solid start in their clash with the Division One strugglers Glamorgan. Shah, Middlesex’s second highest run-scorer, with 858, after the prolific Ed Joyce, added 109 with Ben Hutton. Shah then received useful support from the middle-order until he was caught behind off Robert Croft for 101. Although Scott Styris went without addition to the score, Jamie Dalrymple caused further problems for the Glamorgan bowlers. He ended the day unbeaten on 57 and his partnership with Ben Scott is already worth 60. The pick of Glamorgan’s attack was Huw Waters, an 18-year-old, who took 3 for 67 in his second Championship match.

Division Two

Steven Davies and Vikram Solanki built a valuable lead against Worcestershire but Northamptonshire fought back before losing Martin Love to the final ball of the day. Davies, the promising young wicketkeeper who is filling an opening role, struck a career-best 95 and Solanki a typically boundary-filled 80. A useful 48 from Gareth Batty and a valuable last-wicket stand of 45 between Shoaib Akhtar and Matt Mason gave Worcestershire an 82-run lead. Northants had gone virtually all the way in clearing the deficit but, such is Love’s importance, his dismissal to Ray Price could yet prove a pivotal moment in the match.Leicestershire have compiled a healthy lead of 286 with five second-innings remaining despite a belated comeback from Yorkshire. Ottis Gibson – who earlier fell nine runs short of a second first-class century – Charl Willoughby and Stuart Broad took three wickets each as Yorkshire stumbled to 187 all out – 179 behind Leicestershire – but were not asked to follow on. Darren Maddy and Darren Robinson both fell for nought when Leicestershire batted again, but a stand of 65 between John Maunders and Chris Rogers settled the nerves. However, two late wickets from Anthony McGrath have left Yorkshire with a glimmer of hope.1st dayPaul Collingwood made a career-best 190 for Durham but a belated Derbyshire fightback left the match interestingly poised after the first day. Collingwood and Dale Benkenstein added 250 for the third wicket however, Benkenstein’s dismissal for 98 sparked a collapse. Derbyshire lost 6 for 50 as Nick Walker took 4 for 64. Collingwood was eventually caught by Jon Moss off Walker after facing 255 balls and striking 28 fours and two sixes.Andy and Grant Flower gave Essex the upperhand against Lancashire at Old Trafford. Grant anchored the innings with 115 after the early loss of Will Jefferson to Dominic Cork. He added 96 with Andy before falling to the last ball of the afternoon session, caught behind from Gary Keedy. He faced 238 balls and hit 19 boundaries while his brother will be trying to match him after ending the day on 62. Cork was the most impressive of Lancashire’s attack taking 2 for 49 in 21 overs.