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Darren Gough huffing and puffing in for Maharashtra? Fans of Indian cricket would love that © Getty Images

Darren Gough, the England fast bowler who is currently out of international cricket with a shin injury, is open to playing domestic cricket in India if a suitable opportunity arose. When contacted about the rumours linking him with a possible stint with Maharashtra, the state team that plays in the Ranji Trophy, he did not confirm that talks were on, but equally did not deny that he might be interested.For a while now, the Indian media has been flush with stories over who will or will not be recruited by Maharashtra for the forthcoming season. When Gough was queried on this through the media manager of the Essex County Cricket Club, he told Cricinfo, “I’ve heard the rumours too but until they develop into discussions there is no point in me commenting.””If it came along it would be a wonderful opportunity to help the youngsters out there, using my experience gained over the last 20 years,” Gough added. “India is a wonderful part of the world so I would definitely think hard about doing it.”Gough recently made a comeback to the England one-day international team, but it was to be short-lived. After two matches in the limited overs series against Pakistan, where some commentators suggested Gough had lost the pace that once made him such a tough bowler to negotiate, he suffered a shin injury and was ruled out of the remainder of the series, and also the forthcoming Champions Trophy in India.Maharashtra have been at the forefront of many changes in Indian domestic teams. Last season they hired Darren Holder, the Australian, as coaching director of the team, and for a while have expressed a keenness to take on foreign players to boost their chances of success in the Ranji Trophy. They have already hired professional cricketers from other states – notably Sairaj Bahutule from Mumbai, and more recently Sridharan Sriram from Tamil Nadu.

ScorecardA stunning unbeaten 158 by Adam Bacher at Sedgars Park in Potchefstroom was instrumental in the Lions successfully chasing down a steep target of 305 set by the Warriors. It was Bacher’s highest score in the competition, as well as the Standard Bank Cup’s second-highest score, and the result was that the Lions cantered home with eight wickets to spare in 43.4 overs. In the last ten overs of their innings, 105 runs were scored.The Warriors had come out blazing after choosing to bat first on a batsman’s dream pitch. When the Lions removed Dumisa Makalima early, Arno Jacobs came out and ravaged the bowlers with 102 runs off 105 balls. Tyron Henderson struck seven boundaries and two sixes in his 69 while Mark Boucher added a quick 42 in what appeared to be a winning total of 304 for 7. Derek Crookes, although expensive in his eight overs, took 3 for 72.In reply, the Lions started briskly, but could not keep up with the required run-rate. Bacher stood firm, while Hylton Ackerman attempted to raise the scoring-rate. His 75 in 62 helped but they still needed nearly 10 an over in the final 10 overs. Bacher had taken 115 balls to reach his hundred and then decided to go into overdrive. In another 27 balls, he had 158 and the Lions had won a game in which 612 runs had been scored.
ScorecardAt Goodyear Park in Bloemfontein, Western Province Boland beat the Eaglesin a game that could have gone either way to the very end. The Eagles began in a determined fashion after losing the toss and being asked to bat. Morne van Wyk and Jonathan Beukus put on 131 runs before van Wyk was stumped while trying to up the tempo. Van Wyk’s 65 had opened the door for Benjamin Hector to score a quick 35 off 31. Beukus, playing the anchor role, scored a patient 77. In trying to score quickly, Nicky Boje and Johannes van der Wath fell within two balls of each other as the Eagles finished on 229 for 5.A second-wicket partnership of 184 between Andrew Puttick and Ashwell Prince followed the early wicket of Herschelle Gibbs. The wickets of Prince for 77, Puttick for an excellent 109 and Jean-Paul Duminy for eight swung the game, leaving it on a knife’s edge. In the end, Neil Johnson swung the game in Province’s favour, scoring 21 off 13 balls to see them to 233 for 4 with only two balls to spare.
ScorecardAfter winning the toss and batting first in Durban, the Dolphins were in trouble, but were rescued by Imraan Khan and Dale Benkenstein. Even then, they could only muster 216 for seven in the 45 overs allocated.When rain interrupted after 20 overs, the Titans had struggled to 90 for 4, and were behind the Dolphins on Duckworth-Lewis. But on resumption, Albie Morkel took matters into his own hands and smeared the ball around the ground. Having an able partner in Justin Kemp, he saw the Titans regain control, but fell for 44 (31 balls) to a good boundary catch. Once again the game was in the balance but Kemp, with 79 not out, and an unbeaten 31 from Geoffrey Toyana saw the Titans home by 5 wickets.

Pakistan will host the next edition of the Asia Cup, scheduled to be held in 2006. On Sunday, the Pakistan Cricket Board was awarded the hosting rights for the tournament and Shaharyar Khan, the chairman of the PCB, said that the dates would also be finalised soon.This will be the first time that the Asia Cup will be held in Pakistan, “Pakistan could not host the Asia Cup because of our problems in cricket relations with India,” Shaharyar was quoted as saying in . “But now as we have started playing against each other and I don’t think there should be a problem in hosting the tournament in 2006.”Ashraf-ul-Haq, the chief executive of the Asian Cricket Council, confirmed that Pakistan had given their formal agreement for hosting the tournament. “The 2004 event was originally scheduled to be staged in Pakistan,” he added, “but had to be shifted to Sri Lanka last year. Now with the revival of Indo-Pak relations we deemed it fit to stage the event in Pakistan.”In the wake of the revival in cricket relations between India and Pakistan, the recently concluded Asia Cup was a hugely marketed event. The same newspaper estimated that the ACC had earned US$19million from the sale of rights to ESPN-Star.There was, however, no decision taken on the next edition of the Asian Test Championships, held previously in 1999 and 2001. “We need at least 45 days to host the Asian Test Championship,” Ashaf said, “and in the hectic international schedule a firm proposal will be discussed later.”The meeting also decided that the four Test playing countries will receive US$2.5million each from the tournament and Hong Kong and UAE will get US$300,000 each. The rest of the fund will be spent on the development of cricket in the associate-member countries.Oman and UAE, the two finalists in the 2004 ACC Trophy, will also participate in the 2006 event. However, if the ACC Trophy is held before the Asia Cup in 2006, the qualifiers from that tournament will get a chance to play in the next Asia Cup.

At the start of their Ashes-winning series against Australia in 1986-87, the England side were famously mocked by one local journalists under the headline “Can’t bat, can’t bowl”. Following their crushing defeat in the first Test at Lord’s, Zimbabwe have attracted similar criticism from the English media, but unlike Mike Gatting’s side, it is hard to see that there is any way back for Zimbabwe.They have only one match ahead of the second Test which starts in nine days time – a four-dayer against Middlesex at Shenley – but so outclassed were they at Lord’s that their main objective would appear to be trying to avoid another humiliation at Chester-le-Street.”It will be difficult to come back from this but we have got to pick ourselves up, there is a lot of work between now and then,” Heath Streak, Zimbabwe’s captain, admitted. “We have a young side but they have to learn quickly and show a bit of character. We don’t have the time not to learn from these experiences.”Streak was also aware that Zimbabwe’s poor bowling performance was simply not good enough at Test level. “Our guys just haven’t adapted to conditions here,” Streak said. “We had problems against the Duke ball as it swings consistently throughout the innings and we did not seem to know where our off stump was.The long and short of it is that we didn’t get enough in the right zone and create enough pressure. We gave too many four balls which released any pressure we built and allowed them to keep ticking over”The batting was equally disappointing, with inadequate technique to blame for two collapses – something that cannot be remedied in nine days. “We showed that on wickets that swing and seam you cannot play with hard hands and I think that this was the big difference between the sides at Lord’s,” Streak continued. “There were a lot of soft dismissals throughout for us and we have to learn from that. A lot of guys were sparring at balls they needn’t have played at, well outside off stump, and they will have to learn to leave better and play straighter.”

Somerset Chief Executive Peter Anderson is to make representation to Duncan Fletcher after being told that his two England contracted players will not be available to play for the county after the Cheltenham and Gloucester Final at Lord’s on Saturday.Originally it had been assumed that the two players would return to Somerset to play in the last two Championship matches of the season, against Essex at Chelmsford on September 5th, and Northants at Taunton on September 12th. Their presence could well be a deciding factor in whether or not ‘The Cidermen’ finish in second place which would will be the highest championship finish that the county has ever achieved in its history.Earlier today the Chief Executive commented: “It seems that out of all the contracted players Nasser Hussein, Andy Caddick and Marcus Trescothick are the only fit ones who are not being released to play for their counties for the rest of the season. Somerset are not happy about this situation and are planning to make representation to Duncan Fletcher.” He went on: “It’s down to the individuals to try to get their release if they want to play for Somerset.”Regarding the England overseas touring parties that were announced on Tuesday Mr. Anderson said: “One must feel sorry for Richard Johnson for not being selected after being called up to the squad on three occasions. We must assume that he will be on standby and ready to fly out if there are any injuries.”He continued: “We are surprised that Ian Blackwell hasn’t been named in the one-day squad after the season he has had, and even more so that he hasn’t been included in the Academy side. Somerset nominated Matt Bulbeck and Pete Trego, but neither have played enough to justify their selection.”With regard to Matt Bulbeck he continued: “We are sending Matt out to Perth in Australia to the Paul Terry School after Christmas to help him to prepare for next season.”

Match facts

November 20, 2015
Start time 1500 local (1100 GMT)
1:34

We’re desperate to win the series – Buttler

Big Picture

Such has been the force of England’s comeback after going 1-0 down, they would now be sorely disappointed not to clinch the series. Even allowing for the fact they won the ODIs 4-0 on their last visit to the UAE, victory would count as another significant staging post for Eoin Morgan’s young side on their journey to being considered genuine contenders in the 50-over format.They overturned a significant disadvantage after losing the toss and being asked to chase in Sharjah, with James Taylor and Jos Buttler showing commendable sangfroid to avert crisis in the middle overs and ultimately steer England to a comfortable win. Taylor is fast building a reputation as one of England’s most accomplished players of spin, while Buttler’s return to form with an unbeaten 49 could have wider significance.Pakistan’s collapse from 132 for 2 to 161 for 8 raised eyebrows and tempers – though why anyone would be surprised by such a performance from one of the game’s flakiest batting line-ups is perhaps the bigger mystery. Back home, some have questioned selection – the continued absence of Ahmed Shehzad particularly – while dissent against the coach, Waqar Younis, has increased, despite Pakistan’s rise to No. 2 in the Test rankings just a fortnight ago.While there had been signs of an upturn in their one-day form under the captaincy of Azhar Ali, any progress has apparently been checked. The top order remains in a muddle, with Babar Azam’s promotion to opener yet to bear fruit, while the running in Sharjah would have embarrassed the Keystone Kops. It is all the more galling to have stuttered against England, who were antediluvian at the World Cup eight months ago but have located a flux capacitor to arrive with a zap in the present day.Pakistan can still tie the series but they remain without a win over England in bilateral ODI contests since 2005. Lose in Dubai and it will be three series defeats in a row. The last time that happened, Pakistan were at least consoled by having the World Cup in their possession.Jos Buttler found some welcome form in England’s Sharjah victory•Getty Images

Form guide

Pakistan: LLWWL (last five completed matches, most recent first)
England: WWLLW

Players to watch …

He has overseen three series wins in a row (albeit two of them were against Zimbabwe) and is only just back from injury but Azhar Ali is quickly learning about the pressure of being Pakistan captain. Having taken over from Misbah-ul-Haq after the World Cup, Azhar resumed his ODI career after a two-year gap with two hundreds and three 70-plus scores in eight innings; that form has tailed off, however, and he has managed just 66 runs in three games against England, at an antique strike rate of 60.55. Needs a score almost as much as victory.James Taylor might finally have made himself an automatic selection, more than four years after his ODI debut. He impressed after getting an opportunity at No. 3 in Sri Lanka 12 months ago, before being dropped down the order at the World Cup and then dropped from England’s new-look side altogether (despite captaining the team against Ireland). Another chance came when Joe Root was rested against Australia – as did a maiden hundred – and his Man of the Match display in Sharjah ought to secure him a berth in the middle order for some time.

Team news

Will Shehzad finally get his chance? Haroon Rasheed, the chief selector, has said that his exclusion is not on disciplinary grounds and his proven quality at opener has been lacking. Mohammad Rizwan’s self-inflicted run-out was the dopiest of the lot and he could make way for Azam to return to No. 6, where he scored an unbeaten 62 in the first match. Doubts remain over Yasir Shah’s fitness but Zafar Gohar did provide something for Pakistan to be encouraged about with his debut performance.Pakistan (probable) 1 Azhar Ali (capt), 2 Ahmed Shehzad, 3 Mohammad Hafeez, 4 Iftikhar Ahmed, 5 Shoaib Malik, 6 Babar Azam, 7 Sarfraz Ahmed (wk), 8 Anwar Ali, 9 Wahab Riaz, 10 Yasir Shah/Zafar Gohar, 11 Mohammad Irfan.England have stuck with the same XI in all three games so far and seem likely to continue with that approach as they look to seal the series.England (probable) 1 Jason Roy, 2 Alex Hales, 3 Joe Root, 4 Eoin Morgan (capt), 5 James Taylor, 6 Jos Buttler (wk), 7 Moeen Ali, 8 Chris Woakes, 9 Adil Rashid, 10 David Willey, 11 Reece Topley.

Pitch and conditions

The teams have moved to Dubai for the final match, where the Test surface was more receptive to pace. The last three ODIs between Full Members there have seen the chasing team win, suggesting that batting under lights won’t be such an issue.

Stats and trivia

• Eoin Morgan needs 47 runs to become the sixth England player – and first captain – to score 1000 ODI runs in a calendar year.
• England won both of their previous ODIs in Dubai, beating Pakistan by nine wickets and four wickets in 2012.
• Sarfraz Ahmed needs 18 runs for 1000 in one-day internationals.

Quotes

“Yes we have been making mistakes so we have to overcome that. England is playing well and we did not play to our potential, that’s why we lost but we have confidence that we can play well and win.”
“It was a magnificent win, we look to the next game to go on and win the series, we’ve earned the right to do that so hopefully we can produce another performance like that.”

There is little doubt that the January transfer window has been something of a tame affair with many clubs opting to a more prudent approach, after the millions that were shelled out twelve months ago. Only a cool £25m has been spent so far, which is simply half of what Chelsea paid out for Fernando Torres and £10m less than Liverpool shelled out for Andy Carroll on deadline day a little under a year ago. Indeed most of the signings last January have hardly made any significant impact at any level and perhaps that is why many football chairman are unwilling to splash the cash, in what both Arsene Wenger and Sir Alex Ferguson have both called a poor time to do any transfer business. The Frenchman in particular questions whether the attitude of the players that move on in January is right and therefore could be a reason as to why so many of them subsequently fail.

The transfer deadline is fast approaching and while Fergie and Wenger maybe right to question the wisdom of January shopping, the likelihood is that there will be certain clubs who won’t be able to resist the lure of some last minute bargain hunting. There are plenty to be had in the Premier League and who certainly can expect some last minute enquiries in the next 48 hours.

Click on Kolo Toure to unveil the 15 Premier League bargains to be had

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Everton manager David Moyes believes an England call-up would be long overdue recognition for low-profile midfielder Leon Osman.The Merseyside club have recovered from a slow start to reach seventh in the English Premier League table, with Osman one of the most consistent performers at Goodison Park this season.

The 29-year-old has been a mainstay in the Everton first team from 2004 onwards, but has never gained international recognition for his efforts.

That could be set to change, with England coach Fabio Capello reportedly considering Osman for his next European Championship qualifying squad.

“Well, that would be great if they are (looking at Osman),” Moyes said.

“I think that he’s sort of one that’s underneath since I’ve been here – he’s never just quite made the extra little bit, maybe to get involved with the England squad, but if that’s right that would be great.”

“He’s been a really good player for us.”

Osman joined Everton as a youth player in 1997, making his first-team debut at the end of the 2003/04 campaign, Moyes’ second full season in charge.

“He’s been a big part since I’ve come here, not just the recent form,” Moyes said.

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“He’s been very much right in there, doing as well as most people. He doesn’t maybe get the recognition or the plaudits he deserves a lot of the time.”

“He’s suffered a little bit with injuries in recent years, little bits at times that he’s been out, but overall he’s been an excellent player who we can rely on, we trust him and he’s done a really good job since I’ve been here.”

Aston Villa caretaker-manager Kevin MacDonald will think long and hard before deciding whether to go for the job on a permanent basis.

MacDonald stepped in following Martin O'Neill's surprise departure on the eve of the new season.

He will remain in charge for the second leg of Thursday's Europa League qualifying play-off against Rapid Vienna and also Sunday's Premier League encounter with Everton.

MacDonald will then make a decision about his long-term future.

"It's got to be thought out very, very closely," he said.

"It would be a great opportunity for me, but it would be a great opportunity for anybody who could take over this job because it is a big club."

Meanwhile, MacDonald claims he doesn't know whether Sunday's 6-0 defeat at the hands of Newcastle United has harmed his chances of being offered the job on a full-time basis.

He conceded:"I think people on the outside would probably look at it that way.

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"But from my own point of view it hasn't changed my stance towards what I was trying to do.

"Whether it's damaged my opportunity, I've not thought of it as that yet."Subscribe to Football FanCast News Headlines by Email

Sir Alex Ferguson believes that Tottenham are currently the best team in the Premier League at present and represent the biggest threat in taking the title away from one of the Manchester clubs. The United boss believes it is simply a three-horse title race, with both Chelsea and Arsenal deemed also-rans for this season.

Elsewhere in the news Balotelli is urged to quit smoking; Liverpool look to gazump Chelsea to Cahill, while Dalglish is excited by Gerrard’s new start.

Ferguson fires title warning at City – Guardian

Dalglish excited by Gerrard’s new start – Independent

Balotelli urged to quit smoking – Daily Telegraph

Wenger confirms Henry’s return – Guardian

Capello: foreigners ruining England – Daily Telegraph

Gower’s day of destiny with Spurs arrives – Independent

Liverpool ready to gazump Chelsea’s Cahill bid – Mirror

QPR set to sign Man United striker Macheda on loan until end of season – Daily Mail

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You can forget about signing Mi, Spurs – Sun

Chelsea still interested in Rodwell…but not for £20 million – Mirror

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