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Trent Bridge, lunchtime: West Indies 195 for nine; England to batEngland turned in a sound bowling and fielding performance in restrictingthe West Indies to 195 for nine wickets in their innings in the final groupmatch of the NatWest Series at Trent Bridge in Nottingham.Chris Gayle and Chris Adams got into the thirties, but the accurate, disciplined England bowlers allowed none of the batsmen to take charge. Craig White was the leading wicket-taker with three, but it was essentially a typical team effort.The only time their dominance was challenged was when Franklyn Rose lay about him for 29, but by then it was too late to change the course on the innings. Unless the West Indian bowlers can pull something unusual out of the bag, England should be able to record another victory on a good pitch.Sarwan’s freak dismissalIf Campbell could be considered unlucky to be out playing the ball on to his stumps via the body, it is hard to think of a word to describe the freak dismissal of debutant Sarwan (20). He mistimed a drive at White, which bounced up off the pitch behind him; as Sarwan followed through, the end of his bat met the ball just behind his head, and it ricocheted on to his stumps. He had been in the process of reviving the innings in partnership with his captain, only to be struck down freakishly just as he was beginning to settle in. West Indies 101 for four.Powell (1) fell in White’s next over, driving at a ball just outside off stump and playing it on to his stumps through the gate; 107 for five, and the West Indies were sinking deeper into trouble. England did miss an opportunity to press home their advantage further when Mullally failed to hold a sharp return catch from Jacobs, on 3. He had only two more to his credit, though, when he was slow starting off for a quick single by Adams near Thorpe at midwicket, and a fine throw led to a run-out; West Indies 132 for six. After such a fine series in South Africa last winter, Jacobs has had a hard time on this tour and may have to fight for his place.Entertaining play
Rose attacks bowlingWest Indian hopes of a revival even at this stage seemed to have ended when Adams (36) drove at Mullally and played the ball on to his stumps off the inside edge; 139 for seven. But in fact there followed the most entertaining partnership of the innings as Rose, partnered by Nagamootoo, opened up and attacked the bowling, helped by a few big swings, mishits and snicks. They added 31 before Nagamootoo (11) fatally checked a drive against Gough and was caught by Ealham behind the bowler; 170 for eight in the 47th over.Rose and Dillon continued to swing vigorously, the former hitting an entertaining 29 before holing out to Franks at long-on off White in the final over; 189 for nine. Dillon (14) and King (1) were not out as the innings ended on 195 for nine.

ScorecardSam Billings helped take Kent home for a seventh win in ten T20 Blast games•Getty Images

Young guns Sam Billings and Alex Blake led the way with the bat as Kent crushed Sussex by seven wickets in front of a Hove full house to leapfrog their local rivals and go top of the NatWest T20 Blast’s South Group table.Blake finished 52 not out from 32 balls and Billings was unbeaten with a 24-ball 39 in an unbroken fourth wicket stand of 91 in 8.3 overs as Sussex’s 136 for 8 was made to look totally inadequate. Kent’s seventh victory in ten group games arrived with a thumping 5.4 overs to spare.But it was also a good night under the floodlights on the sultry south coast for James Tredwell and Darren Stevens, who combined to take three wickets for 40 runs from eight skilful mid-innings overs after Sussex had been put in.A 6500 crowd were frustrated that Sussex’s batsmen underperformed on a blissful evening but at least they were entertained royally by Billings and Blake, who between them collected 11 fours and two sixes with some exhilarating hitting.

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It was the young ‘uns who eased home in the chase – providing Kent with a timely NRR boost – but it was the salty old seas dogs Darren Stevens and James Tredwell who won this game for Kent. The pair bowled seven overs straight from the close of the first powerplay, before Tredwell took a one-over break to swap ends to complete his four. Between them, they squeezed out 15 dot balls in a period of the game when singles are offered everywhere, and conceded just two boundaries, all with clever changes of pace and length. Oh, and they picked up with the crucial wickets of Machan, Cachopa and Bailey.

Both batsmen reverse-swept Will Beer for fours of remarkable power, and 25-year-old Blake drove Mike Yardy witheringly for four before slashing Tymal Mills and lofting Beer for further boundaries. The left-hander then topped the lot by swinging Beer for a mighty six over wide long on.Billings, 24, who had warmed up by pulling and extra cover driving Chris Liddle for fours in the seventh over, welcomed the left-arm seamer’s return to bowl the 13th by smashing him high over long-on for six as the youthful pair made light of coming together with Kent on 46 for 3.Daniel Bell-Drummond leg-glanced the first ball of Kent’s reply for four but top-edged to deep midwicket at the end of the over, and Sam Northeast slapped an Ollie Robinson long hop to extra cover on 13 in the middle of a fifth over that still cost the bowler 16 runs as Fabian Cowdrey, promoted to open because of Joe Denly’s side strain, struck him for a six and two fours.Cowdrey, however, slogged Beer’s legspin to mid-on after reaching 23 from just 11 balls and it was left to Billings and Blake to hurry Kent to their modest target.Sussex lost the wickets of openers Luke Wright for 12 and Chris Nash for 13, and never really got going. Wright lofted Mitch Claydon straight for six, survived a hard chance to deep mid-on off the next ball – his powerful drive still went for four – and then mishit the next ball to Stevens coming in from long-off, while Nash flicked a ball from seamer Ivan Thomas straight to short fine leg.The early loss of captain Wright, in particular, so far their chief source of runs in the competition this season with 430 from 11 innings, seemed to deflate Sussex and, despite Matt Machan’s 32-ball 39, they struggled in the middle overs against accurate bowling from the wily pair of Tredwell, 33, and Darren Stevens, 39.As they have done so often before, Tredwell and Stevens put a stranglehold on the scoring rate, while also taking three wickets between them as Sussex limped from 44 for 2 at the end of the six-over Powerplay to 82 for 5 in the 13th over.Craig Cachopa did manage to swing Tredwell to midwicket for four but, next ball, top-edged to short long leg to depart for 11. George Bailey, the Australian overseas signing, made just 2 before being deceived by Tredwell’s offspin and stumped, while Machan hit Stevens to long-on after a good contribution containing five fours.It got worse still for Sussex when Beer, on 6, picked out long-off in Cowdrey’s first over of low-slung left-arm spin, and it was 112 for 7 in the 18th over when Claydon returned to see Robinson flip a reverse lap to Adam Ball at short fine leg.Harry Finch, 20, hit Matt Coles straight for six and also included two fours in a useful 35 not out from 28 balls, and Yardy pulled the penultimate ball of the innings for four to go to 9 before having his stumps spread-eagled by Claydon trying to flick the final ball to long leg.

Leeds United correspondent Graham Smyth has made a contract claim on teenager Nohan Kenneh.

The Lowdown: Out of contract soon

The 19-year-old, who can play as a centre-back or as a holding midfielder, is out of contract at Elland Road at the end of June.

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Kenneh is still yet to make a senior appearance for the Whites, although he has been a regular for the U23s this season.

He has turned out in 20 Premier League 2 games and three EFL Trophy fixtures, captaining the young Whites against Tranmere and Arsenal.

The Latest: Smyth’s comments

Smyth shared a Q&A on The Yorkshire Evening Post on Wednesday, with one topic of conversation on contract renewals.

The reliable reporter labelled a fresh deal for Kalvin Phillips as a ‘priority’ before having this to say on Kenneh.

“I think Kalvin Phillips will be a priority this summer because it’s the one that makes the most sense. I could see Nohan Kenneh getting a new deal before too long. He’s out of contract in the summer but he’s done well of late and impressed Jesse Marsch against Manchester United.”

The Verdict: Interesting…

Kenneh is slowly starting to establish himself as a mainstay in Leeds’ Premier League squad, making the bench in nine of the last 13 fixtures.

He missed out in Marsch’s first three squads but featured on the bench against Wolves last time out, with the Whites staging a dramatic comeback to win 3-2. Kenneh now has an impressive stat of receiving a booking before even making his debut after he joined in the celebrations following Luke Ayling’s winner.

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The American seemingly liked what he saw from Kenneh in the U23s’ 3-0 win over Manchester United last week, and it looks as if he could receive an Elland Road lifeline after catching Marsch’s eye.

In other news: ‘Been told’ – Sky Sports journalist now drops big Raphinha ‘update’ as Leeds exit gathers pace. 

JP Yadav was not allowed to play in a local tournament in Bhopal because of his alignment with the Indian Cricket League © AFP

Kapil Dev, the former Indian captain who is heading the unofficial Indian Cricket League, has said the tournament will go ahead despite pressures from various boards around the world.The ICL has been facing a slew of problems since its launch, from the active opposition of the Indian board to the massive wage bill incurred by promising dozens of players’ hefty packages that start at Rs30 lakhs (US$ 80,000 approx). But Kapil was determined to prove the doubters wrong.One key problem is the availability of grounds, with the BCCI barring the use of any of its facilities to the ICL. However, he claims to have found a functioning ground at Panchkula near Chandigarh. “We have done the pavilion and the lights will be ready,” Kapil was quoted as saying in the London-based . “The advertisements are running on Indian television, the publicity has started, and we have prepared the uniforms for all six teams.”We are very determined and very proud of what we are doing, which will promote the game of cricket and give many young players the chance to build a career. If people think they can block us, that’s fine. The best thing is just to wait and watch.”News related to the ICL has been trickling into the Indian media on a daily basis. It has conducted two camps so far, the second of which ended in Chennai on October 25, and is now planning regional camps in Hyderabad, Chandigarh, Mumbai, Chennai, Kolkata and Delhi. The Kolkata camp, starting on Friday, will be overseen by Daryll Cullinan, the former South African batsman roped in to coach the Calcutta Tigers team.However the reported that the camp could run into difficulties because the venue, the Calcutta Cricket & Football Club (CC&FC), is an affiliated unit of the Cricket Association of Bengal (CAB). It’s also one of the founding members of the CAB. The connection could force the ICL organisers to look out for another venue.The Calcutta Tigers currently comprises 13 players from the domestic circuit — seven from Bengal, four from Assam and two from Jharkhand – while the names of the five international players allocated for the side from the east zone will be announced in a couple of days’ time. Following the Kolkata camp the players will fly down to Mumbai for a round of warm-up matches before heading to Panchkula.Meanwhile there was some controversy surrounding ICL in Bhopal, in central India. Former Indian allrounder JP Yadav and Mohnish Mishra, another first-class cricketer, were not allowed to play in the All India Manish Agnihotri Memorial Cricket Tournament in Bhopal because of their alignment with the league.

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Despite a solid batting effort, Central Districts went down to Wellington in a Duckworth-Lewis ruled thriller at Nelson’s Trafalgar Park. Matthew Sinclair (69), Greg Hay (55) and Ewen Thompson (50 not-out from 33 balls) powered CD to 241 before Michael Mason and Thompson reduced Wellington to 32 for 3. Rain intervened with Wellington on 100 for 4 in the 23rd over, and when play resumed the target was reduced to 232 from 46 overs. Grant Elliot (78) and Stu Mills (49) added 123 to take their side close to victory, and though they fell in quick succession, a 42-run stand for the seventh wicket between Luke Woodcock (21 not-out) and Dewayne Bowden (24 not-out) took them home with one ball to spare.
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Powered by half-centuries from Mal Loye and Richard Jones, Auckland overhauled their target of 240 for the loss of just five wickets and with 15 balls to spare against Northern Districts. Having restricted ND to 239 for 9 – only Alun Evans and Hamish Marshall crossed 50 – Loye’s 79-ball 90, with 13 fours and a six, and Jones’s 56 carried the hosts to an easy win. Paul Hitchcock (39) and Rob Nicol (39) played crucial hands in supporting Auckland’s two half-centurions.
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Following a Craig McMillan-led batting effort, a combined bowling display from Canterbury kept their control over Otago’s innings en route to a 23-run win at the Mainpower Oval in Rangiora. Put in to bat, Canterbury owed much to McMillans’s 52-ball 69 and an unbeaten 35 from captain Chris Harris in a total of 238. Hamish Bennett, Canterbury’s opening bowler, then reduced Otago to 28 for 3 before Aaron Redmond (53) and Greg Todd (43) added 88. A lower order collapse at the hands of Harris and the support bowlers ensured Otago lost their way and were bowled out for 215.

Plate Group Points Table
ScorecardDeepak Mangaraj ripped apart the top order with his medium pace, while S Sehgal tore into middle order and Sanjay Satpathy, the offspinner, spun out the tail as Orissa shot out Vidarbha for a paltry 87 to register a stunning victory on the final day at Nagpur. Earlier, half-centuries from Subit Biswal and Pravanjan Mullick allowed Orissa to declare their second innings after gaining a 261-run lead. by 5 wickets
ScorecardSyed Abbas Ali’s breezy 93 not out and 50 from Nikhil Patwardhan steered Madhya Pradesh to an outright victory over Jharkhand at Indore. Shahbaz Nadeem, the 16-year old left-arm spinner, struck twice to push MP to a wobbling 120 for 5 when Abbas Ali, the captain, decided to impose himself on the proceedings carting three sixes and eleven fours in a 79-balls knock.ScorecardA good allround performance from Shadab Jakati got Goa close to an improbable victory but in the end they had to settle for two points as Tripura hung on to draw the game at Margoa. Jakati reached his maiden hundred and Swapnil Asnodkar his double-century as Goa declared after stretching their lead, overnight on 7, to 119. Jakati and Robin D’Souza, the right-arm medium pacer, grabbed two wickets apiece to leave Tripura tottering at 96 for 5 in the 47th over.
ScorecardKerala earned two points from a drawn game as Rajasthan, having resumed at 23 for 0, batted out the final day at Jaipur. Anshu Jain hit 71 as he added 68 runs with Dishant Yagnik to lift Rajasthan to 231.
ScorecardHalf-centuries from Sajjad and Arshad Bhatt saw Jammu & Kashmir bat out a draw to give Assam two points in the Plate match at Guwahati. J&K, overnight on 12 for 0, settled for some batting practice on the final day.

Javed Miandad: ‘Our players need to be told and coached things in a simplified manner’© AFP

Javed Miandad has come out strongly against Bob Woolmer’s coaching methods and is extremely sceptical about Pakistan’s chances in the Test series against Australia. Miandad’s comments came just two days before the start of the first Test at Perth, with the Pakistan team suffering crushing defeats in the last warm-up game.Miandad, who was sacked from the coaching position before Woolmer took over, pinpointed what he says are some basic flaws in the set-up. “When you are constantly experimenting with the team, when you are not sure about your playing XI and batting positions, when the coach is unaware of the particular cricket culture and psychology of Pakistan cricket, what do you expect?” Miandad told .These comments came in the wake of Pakistan’s humiliating ten-wicket defeat at the hands of Western Australia in their latest tour game. “It hurts to see a talented bunch of players struggle like this,” Miandad said. “The problem lies in the fact that Woolmer doesn’t have any idea of our cricket culture and background. Read his statements and you know this is a man not confident and sure about what he is doing.”Results, according to Miandad, were the bottom line in gauging a team, and he felt nothing much had changed ever since he was forced to step down. “He [Woolmer] has been in the saddle for six months now and we are still as inconsistent and erratic. When I left, the team was among the top three in Tests and one-day internationals, although when I took over after the 2003 World Cup we blooded several new players. Since I left has there been any improvement in the rankings or our performances?”Elaborating on the coaching methods that he felt were ideal for Pakistan’s players, Miandad said, “Our players need to be told and coached things in a simplified manner. If you drop a batsman to even give him a bit of rest to recover from a bad patch he loses his confidence and forgets everything he has learnt while in the team. That is why Yasir Hameed is now struggling to score runs.”And Miandad had no hesitation in pointing out that Pakistan will be the team playing catch-up throughout the series. “Given the present state of conditions in the team I am not really hopeful of any major surprise being sprung by our players in the Test series. A series in Australia is not the time or place for experiments or building for the future.”

The Kenya Cricket Association (KCA) has been stung by accusations that its selection of only one black player in the 14-man U19 squad for the World Cup qualifying tournament is racist.As soon as the squad was named the protests started with critics arguing that the selection did not mirror Kenya’s multiracial society. Timothy Muange, a wicketkeeper-batsman who played for the title-wining Swamibapa side, is the only indigenous Kenyan in the side.The objections have been given more force by the inclusion of three Kenyan-based Indian citizens. Jimmy Rayani, chairman of the KCA, defended the decision by withdrawing behind the ICC’s player eligibility rules under which the three qualify to represent Kenya. "We do not want to be disadvantaged against other teams at international level," he explained, "and that is why it is our desire that we send our strongest team possible for the tournament."But that hasn’t mollified the protestors. "The message we are sending to other cricket-playing nations is that we don’t have enough players to make up a truly Kenyan team," one said. "What is the use of having foreigners in the team when we are trying to get Test status? Who knows where they will be tomorrow?"The reality is that cricket in Kenya continues to be far more popular among the Asian community, and despite the best efforts of the ICC and KCA the indigenous population remain largely indifferent to the game.

© CricInfo

Tinu Yohannan is the complete athlete; faster, higher and stronger allput together. He is also the first player from the state of Kerala to beincluded in the Indian cricket squad. The 22-year-old tall fast bowlermight very well play his first Test on Monday at Mohali against England.Yohannan had earlier impressed the selectors with his bowling in theIrani Trophy match against Baroda, where he charged in and bowled atgood pace even at the fag end of the day, prompting one of the selectorsto say that India needs players with such commitment.Yohannan took to high-jump as a young boy and won gold at the stateschool level and also silver at the junior state level. The genes havebeen passed from his father TC Yohannan, gold-medal winner in long jumpin the 1974 Asian Games and the first Asian to cross the eight-metremark.Yohannan is from the small hamlet of Edapally near Kochi, the queen ofArabian Sea, in Kerala. He represented his school – Bhavan’s VidyaMandir Elamakkara – in the state CBSE championships and won gold in highjump. It was during the summer vacation after his tenth-gradeexaminations that Yohannan went over to the MRF Pace Academy to learnfast bowling. Yohannan had earlier talked to the head coach at MRF, TASekhar, over the phone. The selection trials were all over and yetSekhar called him in to the nets to have a bowl along with othertrainees, a decision that makes Sekhar that much more proud today.Talking over the phone with CricInfo, the usually shy lad couldn’t hidehis happiness. “I am really happy to be selected for the Indian team. Iam really thankful to the Kerala Cricket Association and the MRF PaceAcademy for helping me through to make it thus far. I will always beindebted to Dennis Lillee and TA Sekhar for their guidance and support.I am proud to be an Indian and I will give more than my best for theteam.”In his eight Ranji Trophy appearances for Kerala, Yohannan has pickedonly 24 first-class wickets. Clearly, the selectors have gone in fortalent and work ethic than the number of wickets. Yohannan played forthe Board President’s XI against England in Hyderabad and, soon afterthe match, he spoke about his career and ambitions in an exclusiveinterview to CricInfo. “If I know anything about fast bowling, it is allbecause of my guru Dennis Lillee. The four years that I spent withSekhar at the MRF academy have taught me a lot about fast bowling.”Here is a player who believes in plain hard work. He has two five-wickethauls in the Ranji Trophy so far and reckons that being selected for theIrani Trophy was a pivotal moment in his career. “I just wanted to give100 percent and wait for the results,” says Yohannan about his approachto the Irani Trophy match. When asked about his playing against aninternational side for the first time, which was incidentally againstEngland at Hyderabad last week, Yohannan said, “I was very happy to hearabout the selection, which I came to know about through the morningnewspaper. I was nursing some hope of making it into the team.”Yohannan bowled 11 overs in four different spells in the first inningsand struggled to find his rhythm. But the young man took it as anopportunity and a learning experience to be bowling at the foreignplayers. It was a determined Yohannan who charged in to bowl at theEnglish batsmen in their second essay. Madan Lal, who was the teammanager, had advised him to bowl stump-to-stump on a docile track. Theadvice from the former Indian opening bowler and the current nationalselector did the trick; Yohannan bowled with a lot of fire to surprise afew Englishmen.The young fast bowler was very much impressed by Nasser Hussain’sdriving on the rise and the back-foot play of Michael Vaughan. Thechampagne moment of the three-day match was when Yohannan shattered thestumps of Vaughan, who was shaping to play at a really quick deliverythat cut back in a shade. The off and middle stumps went flying in aspectacular manner. Perhaps that was the one ball that changed the lifeof this soft-spoken youngster.Yohannan was looking forward to playing in the four Ranji Trophy matchesfor Kerala. Talking about the goals that he has set for the season,Yohannan said, “I want Kerala to qualify for the knock-out stage. I haveto give my best, bowl aggressively and retain my fitness to achievethat.” His mates would not mind missing him from the Ranji team; it isindeed an honour for the small state of Kerala that one of their boyscould well be playing in a Test match on Monday.

Aston Villa defender Calum Chambers is a doubt to face his former club Arsenal this lunchtime, according to the BBC.

The Lowdown: West Ham injury

Villa fell to a 2-1 defeat to West Ham last weekend and also left the capital with a number of injury problems.

Chambers, who has been labelled ‘magnificent’ by Ian Wright, played the entirety of the defeat to David Moyes’ side but suffered a facial injury.

Lucas Digne and Douglas Luiz also suffered problems at the London Stadium, with Gerrard now facing some big selection calls as he looks to get his side back to winning ways.

The Latest: BBC’s preview

BBC shared a preview of Villa’s meeting with Arsenal on Friday lunchtime. When it came to team news, they initially said that Chambers, along with Luiz, was a doubt but have now claimed they have been pictured in training, possibly leaving their participation up in the air.

Gerrard has since confirmed that Digne and Kortney Hause will also miss the game through injury.

The Verdict: Shame

Chambers was just beginning to establish himself as a regular under Gerrard after joining Villa in January, featuring as a starter in five of the club’s last six Premier League fixtures.

Ezri Konsa was an unused substitute against West Ham, so you’d expect that he will slot straight in alongside Tyrone Mings, should the 27-year-old miss out.

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Hopefully Chambers won’t be out for long and will give Gerrard another selection headache against Wolves following the international break, providing he doesn’t feature today.

In other news: Gregg Evans drops Aston Villa contract news after ‘important’ deal confirmed