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Jos Buttler couldn’t help Somerset end their run of second-place finishes in county cricket, but gave another demonstration of his talent against Surrey at Lord’s. The day after Jonny Bairstow burst onto the international stage with a matchwinning innings against India, Buttler gave his own eye-catching demonstration with 86 off 72 balls in the CB40 final.There is an increasing battle for places in the England limited-overs teams after Bairstow and Ravi Bopara took the opportunities presented by the absences of Kevin Pietersen and Eoin Morgan. Those two senior players will also miss the Twenty20s against West Indies this week – while Morgan is ruled out of the India tour next month – which means an opportunity to impress before the squads for India are announced.Bairstow’s unbeaten 41 off 21 balls at Cardiff has assured him of a trip to the subcontinent, but Buttler, who was called into the one-day squad as cover for the final match, is perhaps battling Ben Stokes, the Durham allrounder, for a place in the touring party. Stokes played the first four matches against India, although he only batted twice and struggled against spin.He is also still unable to bowl due to the broken finger he suffered earlier in the season, so Buttler’s performance at Lord’s came at a good moment and his county captain, Marcus Trescothick, believes he showed his rapid development.”He can play some great innings just like that,” Trescothick said. “It was quite reserved for Jos. We’ve all seen it when he bangs it left, right and centre out of the ground. It was very mature. It was the perfect knock for the situation of the game.”It was great to watch. We’ve seen enough great times of Jos over the last couple of years to justify him being in the international team,” he added. “If he can continue to play like that and get the opportunity to play in international games, England supporters are going to see some good performances because he is a serious player.”Buttler’s place in the Twenty20 squad to face West Indies means he didn’t travel with Somerset to the Champions League on Sunday although could link up with the squad if they progress through the qualifying stage in Hyderabad. The odds are stacked against them, however, as they have two games in two days with the first less than 24 hours after arriving in India. Yet if he doesn’t reach India with his county, Buttler is making a strong case to go there with his country.

Trinidad and Tobago batsmen Emmanuel Lett and Akeal Hosein have been included in the West Indies Under-19 squad for the first time, for the upcoming quadrangular tournament in India that will also feature Under-19 sides from Australia, Sri Lanka and the hosts.Kraigg Brathwaite, who made his Test debut earlier in the year against Pakistan, will lead the side which includes 12 of the 14 members who were on the last West Indies Under-19 tour, to the United States of America. Barbados’ Anthony Alleyne, who was on the tour to Dubai in April, returns to the squad. Keiron Joseph of Trinidad and Tobago and Jamaican Ramon Senior are the two players from the USA tour to miss out this timeLett and Hosein’s call-ups come on the back of consistent performances in the WICB Under-19 tournament in Guyana. Lett made the highest score of the tournament – 187 retired hurt against Leeward Islands – and did well with his offspinners too, taking 5 for 21 against Leeward in the 50-over games.Nineteen players were invited to a training camp in Barbados following the domestic Under-19 tournament, with 15 of them making it to the squad for the series in India. The Under-19 quadrangular series starts on September 27 when West Indies will play Sri Lanka.West Indies Under-19s: Kraigg Brathwaite (capt), Anthony Alleyne, Sunil Ambris, Ronsford Beaton, John Campbell, Derone Davis, Justin Greaves, Kavem Hodge, Akeal Hosein, Jerome Jones, Stephen Katwaroo, Amir Khan, Emmanuel Lett, Kyle Mayers, Donavan Nelson

Durham snatched victory from the jaws of defeat in today’s Clydesdale Bank 40 match against Leicestershire at Chester-le-Street.After a week in which they lost to Hampshire in the Friends Life t20 quarter-finals and in the County Championship, Durham were bowled out for 192 by Leicestershire and then saw their opponents romp to 72 without loss in reply.But spinners Ian Blackwell and Gareth Breese then picked up six wickets between them as the visitors were dismissed for 155 to hand Durham a 37-run victory. Leicestershire batted a man short because Australian allrounder Andrew McDonald suffered a knee injury after bowling five overs for 18 runs.With James Taylor, like Durham pair Ben Stokes and Scott Borthwick, on England Lions duty, Leicestershire were short of batting.Durham kept alive their hopes of a semi-final place despite a below-par batting performance. They were all out with 17 balls unused and were indebted to left-handed opener Mark Stoneman making 73 in his first one-day appearance of the season.On his comeback from injury, Leicestershire captain Matthew Hoggard took 2 for 26. He persuaded Paul Collingwood to sky a catch to mid-off after making seven, while Blackwell miscued to cover after hitting three sixes in making 43 off 40 balls. Going in at 66 for 4, Blackwell gave the innings impetus with two sixes over mid-wicket in an over from offspinner Jigar Naik.In reply, Leicestershire looked like coasting to victory until their opening stand of 72 ended in the 13th over when Josh Cobb sliced Callum Thorp to backward point to depart for 37. It was the first of four catches for Collingwood, who held the other three at slip off the spinners.Even at 117 for 2 the visitors were clear favourites, but two wickets fell on that total as Blackwell and Breese both bowled wicket maidens. It was left-armer Blackwell who ended Jacques du Toit’s innings of 56 off 65 balls to finish with 2 for 15 in his eight overs.Breese’s second wicket came when Wayne White, having hit 12 runs off the first five balls of an over, reverse swept the last one straight to backward point. Breese also took the last two wickets to finish with 4 for 21.

Paul Collingwood could be in line for a shock move to Derbyshire next season after the club was given permission to speak to him about a deal.The county tabled a 28-day approach and Durham, who want to keep Collingwood, aren’t blocking the attempt to lure him away from the team he has played for throughout his career. Collingwood’s name would certainly fit the ‘major signing’ the new chairman Chris Grant promised.However, it would be a major surprise to see Collingwood leave Durham after so many years of loyal service and he has always spoken strongly about his links with his native North East.”We’ve told Paul we want him to stay,” Durham chief executive, David Harker, told the . “He has a year left on his contract and we are talking to him all the time about what he wants to do next.”We are relaxed about the situation. Paul has had a big change from what he was doing with England this summer, and it is only right he has a look at what is out there and what different options there are for him.”It appears that Collingwood’s international career is over after he lost the Twenty20 captaincy following his retirement from Test cricket at the end of the Ashes. He was left out of England’s recent limited-overs squads against Sri Lanka although has shown some decent county form since returning from knee surgery, including his first Durham hundred since 2005.Earlier in the season Collingwood said he was enjoying being back in the county game after barely playing for Durham since becoming an England regular.”All I can say is that so far I’ve really enjoyed being back at Durham,” he told Spin magazine. “I’ve always felt part of the club – it’s where I grew up and learnt the game, after all – but I haven’t really felt a part of the team for a few years.”Since 2005, when I scored quite heavily and forced my way into the England side, I’ve probably only played a game or two a season. So the prospect of being part of a team that could challenge for the County Championship is very exciting.”

A grand total of 369 overs were lost to the rain in the course of England’s three Tests against Sri Lanka – which is roughly 26 and a half hours’ worth of play, or nearly four full days out of a possible 15. It was only fitting, therefore, that on the stroke of tea on the final afternoon, yet another dirty great cloud rolled across the Rose Bowl to extinguish the final embers of a contest that, but for a crazy 24 overs in Cardiff last month, would never have come close to igniting.If the hardy citizens of Hampshire arrived at the ground today hoping for, and maybe expecting, a similar burst of finality from England’s bowlers, then at least they left with the consolation of having watched one of the game’s modern greats produce an innings that has been long overdue.Kumar Sangakkara’s six-and-a-half hour 119 was the 25th century of his 97-Test career, but his first in nine attempts in England. In partnership first with the nightwatchman Rangana Herath, and then with his fellow stalwart Thilan Samaraweera, he repelled England’s advances on a pitch that Andrew Strauss ruefully remarked was effectively a day three wicket.The sting of the first day had certainly disappeared, but the application that Sangakkara showed could not be under-estimated. Had he failed to build on his overnight 44, England would surely have fancied their chances of wrapping up a 2-0 win.”It’s very satisfying,” said Sangakkara at the close. “To score a hundred, especially in England, is quite an achievement coming from the subcontinent. It would have been nice to have done it at Lord’s, but that’s something you have to get over. It’s nice to finally get there.”In the final reckoning, the innings does little to redress the imbalance of Sangakkara’s Test average in England. His mark now stands at 30.58, which is barely half his overall figure of 56.18, and he admitted that it had taken him longer to adjust to the bounce and movement in this country – a process not helped by his belated arrival from the IPL in India.”I just kept getting out,” he said. “When I first came to England [in 2002] I was a bit at sea and tried to make some adjustments, but was not getting anywhere. Second time around I had two opportunities [66 and 65], one at Lord’s when I got out to Monty Panesar. So coming here from the IPL it was a case of adjusting again. Not just technically but also mentally. It took me a bit too long to do that.”Kumar Sangakkara finally reached 100 in a Test in England on the ninth attempt•AFP

Nevertheless, there was some satisfaction to be gleaned from Sri Lanka’s final-day performance. At times on this tour, with the bat in Cardiff and with the old ball in most of England’s innings, they have performed with the fragility of a side ranked far lower than their No. 4 billing. It was important, therefore, to make a statement of the class that still exists in their cricket since the retirement of Muttiah Muralitharan.”Cricket is all about continuously improving what you can do and what you can do as a team,” he said. “And what you can achieve if you perform as a team collectively. Our ambition now has to be to consolidate with the players we have, the ability we have and find new ways of winning Test matches. We don’t have Muralitharan any more, we don’t have [Chaminda] Vaas. For us to win, we have to find different avenues. That’s the thing for us. Those are the questions we need to answer in the months ahead.”But for that crazy session in Cardiff, Sri Lanka would have escaped with a drawn series, and Sangakkara was well aware of that fact. “That was probably the biggest regret on this tour,” he said. “None of us were switched on to that situation really. We just needed to bat consistently for 25 or 30 overs – just one pair to put on a proper partnership on a wicket that was flatter than this one. It just goes to show that one mistake, two mistakes, can magnify a situation that we should have been capable of handling nine times out of ten.”With the debutant Lahiru Thiramanne demonstrating a technique and temperament that enabled him to survive on a tricky surface and, in all likelihood, to thrive on more benign ones, Sri Lanka’s batting still looks capable of sustaining their status in the world game. England’s more powerful bowlers made the difference in this rubber, as they continue to push towards the No. 1 spot, but Sangakkara refused to believe that his team’s days as a top-ranked side are numbered.”I think all the sides in the top six have their eye on that prize,” he said. “We do too. But for us to do that, we need to improve our record away from home. England has a great all-round side and I think they can realistically achieve that ambition. But there are sides to beat, milestones to achieve along the way. We just have to wait and see if the teams battling for that position can deliver.”

The PCB has offered central contracts to 19 women cricketers for 2011. The cricketers were part of the gold-medal-winning squad in the inaugural women’s cricket tournament at the Asian Games in Guangzhou, China, last November. The board had announced its intention of contracting women cricketers in December 2010.The one-year contracts have been afforded in four categories, with Sana Mir, Javeria Khan, Nain Abidi, Bismah Maroof and Batool Fatima falling in the top bracket, Category A.One of the members of the Asian Games squad, Sania Khan, has not received a contract due to an injury. “Sania Khan’s contract has been withheld due to medical reasons as she is currently undergoing a rehabilitation programme in lieu of a shoulder injury,” a PCB release stated. “Once she is cleared by PCB’s medical panel, then her contract will be issued accordingly.”After the Asian Games victory, the board had also introduced match fees for the women players; previously the team just received a daily allowance for expenses, their only regular source of income being the jobs they held with companies that have first-class cricket teams.The list of players awarded contracts:Category A: Sana Mir, Javeria Khan, Nain Abidi, Bismah Maroof, Batool Fatima
Category B: Nida Dar, Asmavia Iqbal, Qanita Jalil, Marina Iqbal, Sania Khan
Category C: Masooma Junaid, Sadia Yousaf, Rabiya Shah, Sana Gulzar, Sidra Ameen
Category D or retainership: Kainat Imtiaz, Nahida Khan, Namra Imran, Faryal Awan, Areeb Shamaim

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Mohammad Nabi and Nawroz Mangal were the top-scorers for Afghanistan with 72 and 33•Associated Press

An all-round performance by Pakistan A resulted in a five-wicket win over Afghanistan in Islamabad, in the first game of the three-match limited-overs series.Choosing to bat, Afghanistan lost wickets in a hurry early on, being reduced to 13 for 3 by the left-arm pace bowling of Sohail Tanvir and Sadaf Hussain. They didn’t really recover from the poor start, losing wickets at regular intervals thereafter. The only resistance came from No. 7 batsman Mohammad Nabi. He attacked the Pakistan A bowlers, stroking 72 off 75 balls with seven fours and three sixes to push his side past the 150 mark, something that looked unlikely at 94 for 8. First-change bowler Mohammad Talha finished with the best figures – 3 for 29.Pakistan A built their chase around a number of cameos from their top order. They stumbled briefly, going from 99 for 2 to 123 for 5, due to a double-strike by debutant Dawlat Zadran and a run-out, but the paltry target was never really beyond their reach. They got home with 61 balls to spare.Nabi, who had starred with the bat, and later stifled the hosts with his offspin, going for just 34 in his ten overs was named Man of the Match.The second match is on Friday in Rawalpindi.

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To some, Damien Wright and Gerard Brophy represent everything that is wrong with county cricket. They are both in their mid-30s, foreign-born and have precious little hope of playing international cricket. In an age of young player incentives and tightening work-permit criteria, they are something of an anachronism.Yet they combined at New Road to show the great virtue of experience. Wright, the 35-year-old Australian now at his fifth county as an overseas player, bowled a superb line and length and gained enough movement to dismiss good, well-set batsmen, while Brophy, a 35-year-old born in South Africa but England-qualified, produced a chanceless century characterised by delightful straight drives. Together they raised the standard of this compelling game and provided rich entertainment for another decent-sized crowd.Brophy’s contribution may turn out to be the more telling. In partnership with the equally experienced Ryan Sidebottom, Brophy put together a so-far unbroken stand of 129 for Yorkshire’s eighth-wicket, reviving an innings that had appeared set to fall well below expectation. By stumps, Yorkshire were just two runs behind with power to add. As Brophy put it at the close of play, the pitch is growing slower and lower and a lead of anything over 30 could prove vital.Brophy is out of contract at the end of the season and, with Yorkshire deep in debt, is far from assured of winning a new deal. This innings – his eighth first-class hundred and highest score for Yorkshire – should have made a compelling case, however. He was admirably compact, impressively patient and waited for anything over-pitched before launching into a series of powerful drives. His century, from 168 balls, contained 15 fours.Sidebottom played his part, too. Watchful initially, he also produced some pleasing drives and was admirably disciplined outside off stump. He did enjoy some fortune – playing and missing quite often – but did not give a chance and reached his 50 just before the close from 153 balls with nine fours. His only previous first-class half-century came against Glamorgan in 1998.When they came together, Yorkshire were teetering at 155 for 7 and in danger of surrendering a large first-innings deficit. The first six wickets had all fallen to catches in the cordon behind the wicket as the visiting batsmen struggled to deal with an excellent display of bowling from Worcestershire’s seamers.Wright, in particular, was highly impressive. Maintaining a perfect line, he snared Adam Lyth and Andrew Gale with beauties that swung back into the left-handers and took the edge, before Adil Rashid edged an outswinger to gully. All three batsmen had looked in good touch and, in the case of Lyth in particular, might well wonder how they could have played such a delivery.Worcestershire’s other seamers lent good support. Maintaining a fuller length than Yorkshire had managed the previous day, they also stuck to a disciplined off stump line and their fielders gratefully accepted every chance. Joe Sayers was caught after edging one he had to play, angled across him, while Jonathan Bairstow was lured into a loose drive against a classic outswinger. When Richard Pyrah was beaten by a sharply-turning offbreak in Moeen Ali’s first over, Worcestershire were well on top.The day might not have ended that way, but Worcestershire can still take satisfaction from their start to the season. Though their three leading seamers – Mason, Richardson and Wright – showed just a little weariness in the final session – understandable when you consider that their combined age is 107 – this was very much a case of Yorkshire wrestling the initiative away, rather than Worcestershire squandering a strong position.Fate has dealt Worcestershire some tough cards over the last few years: floods, recession and an exodus of leading players among them. Yet they have responded admirably: instead of moaning and looking for a hand-out, they’ve cut costs and redoubled their efforts to live within their diminished means. Yorkshire, propped up only through the benevolence of their multi-millionaire chairman, might take note.The future is looking a little brighter at New Road these days. While their original plans for ground redevelopment fell through, a new scheme is set to be unveiled within weeks that will, it is hoped, provide substantial income from areas other than cricket. It will encompass a four or five storey building in the area now occupied by the club offices and include a hotel, conference facilities and new offices. Crucially, it will not just provide Worcestershire with a one-off lump sum, but create a new revenue stream from the conference rooms.The club are currently awaiting a report into the implications of flooding. The city council are supportive, however, so there is every chance that the building will go ahead. Some will, doubtless, bemoan the changing face of the ground. In truth, the beauty of New Road comes from the trees and the proximity to the Cathedral. With the best will in the world, there’s nothing pretty about the buildings that will be destroyed to make way for the new building.

MS Dhoni, the India captain, identified Zaheer Khan’s dismissal of Devon Smith in the first over of his second spell as the turning point of the match at Chepauk. Zaheer had only bowled two overs in his first spell and was, presumably, being saved for when the ball got a bit older and reverse-swing came into play. He struck with the older ball, in the 31st over, with a slower ball that bowled Smith, who had anchored West Indies’ chase with a well-compiled 81.”The game really changed once Zaheer gave us the breakthrough; until then Devon was batting really well,” Dhoni said at the post-match presentation. “After that we could apply pressure from both ends, and eventually we got more wickets than we needed and we seized the game in the end.”Prior to Zaheer’s strike, West Indies had eased their way to 154 for 2 with first Darren Bravo and then Ramnaresh Sarwan building fifty partnerships with Smith. The game seemed to be slipping away from India, but the fall of Smith’s wicket allowed Dhoni to attack – at one point he had three close-in fielders for Harbhajan Singh – and West Indies crumbled under the pressure.India’s performance with the bat had been reminiscent of the performance against South Africa in Nagpur. This time it was Yuvraj Singh’s turn to score a century, only to see the position he had brought India to squandered by a late collapse. India lost their last seven wickets for 50 runs, with four falling for just 28 after Yuvraj’s dismissal in the 45th over.Against South Africa, the collapse had been 9 for 29, and Dhoni recognised that losing wickets in a flurry at the end of the innings was becoming a problem for India, particularly because it wasn’t allowing them to take advantage of the batting Powerplay.”It [losing wickets] is a concern. But there is a gradual improvement and I am sure we will be at our best in the quarters. That’s the positive I will take out of this.”India’s 80-run win set up a quarter-final with Australia, to be played in Ahmedabad on March 24. They have lost to Australia in nine out of 15 matches played in India during the last five years, and Dhoni was aware of the challenge ahead of his team.”Australia are a very strong side and very expressive on the field. But it’s about how we prepare. Preparation is very important and we are just thinking about that particular day and match rather than thinking about the result. Being in the present is a better option than thinking of the past or worrying about the future.”

Waqar Younis, the Pakistan coach, has said his side may have found it hard to motivate themselves for the sixth ODI against New Zealand, having already won the series. Pakistan lost Saturday’s match in Auckland by 57 runs, but the series ended 3-2 in their favour.”We tried our best today [Saturday], but it didn’t really happen,” Waqar said. “When you win the series, it’s hard to be motivated sometimes. Maybe you get a little lazy at times, but overall I’m happy with the way the boys played today.”Pakistan had won the toss and put New Zealand in to bat, hoping the Eden Park surface would offer something for the fast bowlers, but the pitch proved to be an absolute belter, as batsmen on both sides hit through the line without fear and to great effect; and Waqar admitted they had misread the conditions. “I think we were expecting the ball to move a little bit more. But here in Auckland it’s a very deceptive pitch. Even when we used to play here a few years ago, it looks damp but it does nothing.”New Zealand’s batsmen dominated the Pakistan attack on Saturday. Jesse Ryder made 107 from 93 balls, before Scott Styris and Nathan McCullum galloped to half-centuries towards the end of the innings to lift New Zealand’s total to 310. Pakistan lost three wickets inside twelve overs in their run chase and Waqar said it was the regular loss of wickets that left them unable to threaten New Zealand’s total.”We gave it a good run, but every time we got momentum we lost a wicket at the wrong time. They played better than us when we were bowling, so they deserved to win.”Pakistan cricket has had a controversy-ridden last 12 months, but Waqar said the latest news that Salman Butt, Mohammad Asif and Mohammad Amir were facing charges from the Crown Prosecution Service in the UK did not have any effect on Pakistan’s performance on the field in the final ODI, as the team were largely unaware of the charges. “I knew it because I read it in the paper, but I don’t think anybody else knew it. I don’t think the boys had any talk about it. It didn’t really bother us.”Pakistan’s loss at Eden Park followed a series-deciding victory in Hamilton, which gave Pakistan their first one-day series win since 2008. They had ended a four-year Test series drought, with a 1-0 win over New Zealand earlier in the tour, and Waqar said the results were encouraging ahead of the World Cup. “It’s been a while since Pakistan won anything. The most satisfying thing is the fitness is pretty good. The guys look good in the field, which has never happened before. They’re all geared up and hopefully the same momentum goes into the World Cup.”With the amount of controversy in the last 8 to 9 months, we needed something like this. We needed to develop our team again, and the only way we could do it is if we started playing well.”Misbah-ul-Haq and Wahab Riaz were rested for the final ODI, giving Sohail Tanvir and Asad Shafiq some valuable match practice before the World Cup. Tanvir was expensive, leaking 78 runs in eight overs, but Shafiq impressed during his stay, rebuilding smartly alongside Kamran Akmal after Pakistan had lost three early wickets. Waqar said Pakistan hadn’t yet finalised their XI for the World Cup. “We’ve given most of our guys a game. Asad Shafiq played really well today. It’s unfortunate he got run out because he was looking really good. We don’t really know the XI at the moment because there are a few warm-up games before the World Cup, but we’ve got a good unit.”