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Manchester United legend Wayne Rooney has reportedly held talks regarding forming part of the next boxing card pieced together by Misfits.

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Ex-England captain out of workSacked by BirminghamAlways been a big boxing fanWHAT HAPPENED?

The former England captain is a big boxing fan and has expressed willingness in the past to climb inside the ropes. That dream could now become a reality, with Rooney currently out of work in football circles following his dismissal by Championship side Birmingham.

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According to , Rooney has spoken with Misfits – the series promoted by Kalle Sauerland that features YouTube stars such as KSI and Logan Paul – about stepping into the ring. The 38-year-old attended an amateur boxing club while growing up in Liverpool and is apparently ready to lace up a pair of gloves once more.

DID YOU KNOW?

Rooney would be able to take part in the next Misfits event as their shows do not fall under the rules of the British Boxing Board of Control – meaning that fighters do not need to be professional. Fight nights are broadcast by DAZN and feature a number of celebrity sluggers.

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Getty/GOALWHAT NEXT FOR ROONEY?

Rooney walked Ricky Hatton out in Las Vegas back in 2007, for his clash with Jose Luis Castillo, and has previously messaged Matchroom promoter Eddie Hearn about putting a fight in place. He may get the chance to do some sparring as he mulls over his next move in coaching, with United's all-time leading goalscorer waiting on offers.

Shashikala Siriwardene backed up her 4 for 30 with ball with an unbeaten 42 to guide Sri Lanka Women to a six-wicket win over West Indies Women in the second ODI in Colombo

ESPNcricinfo staff15-May-2015
ScorecardFile Photo – Sasikala Siriwardene scored an unbeaten 42 to go with her 4 for 30•ICC/Solaris ImagesShashikala Siriwardene backed up her 4 for 30 with an unbeaten 42 to guide Sri Lanka Women to a six-wicket win over West Indies Women in the second ODI at R Premadasa Stadium in Colombo.Having chosen to bat, West Indies began sedately before right-arm pacer Sripali Weerakkody dismissed Hayley Matthews for 11 in the 10th over. Kycia Knight and StefanieTaylor consolidated with a 48-run partnership before running into Siriwardene. West Indies slipped from 95 for 2 to 110 for 7 in five overs and were eventually bowled out for 124.Sri Lanka wobbled at the start – openers Prasadini Weerakkody and Lasanthi Madhushani were removed by the 14th over leaving them at 46 for 2. They lost a further two wickets, but by then victory was only 38 runs away. Siriwardene steered Sri Lanka home with 64 balls to spare and helped them draw level at 1-1 in the four-match series.

A round-up of the One-Day Cup matches that took place on December 10, 2013

ESPNcricinfo staff10-Dec-2013Group ILegspinner Tanzeel Altaf took two wickets in the final over as Lahore Eagles defeated Rawalpindi Rams by one run at the Lahore City Cricket Association Ground. Zahid Mansoor struck an unbeaten 96 off 61 balls in Rams’ chase of 318, but watched from the non-striker’s end as Altaf dismissed Munir Ansari and Mujahid Amin with the third and sixth balls of the last over.Chasing 316, Rawalpindi Rams stayed on course with Awais Zia and the captain Babar Naeem scoring 53 each, and Mansoor striking 11 fours to reach 94 off 58 when the 45th over began.Rawalpindi Rams needed six off six balls, with two wickets in hand. Altaf had smashed five sixes in an unbeaten 14-ball 44 to propel Lahore Eagles to 317 for 6, but had been expensive with the ball, conceding 54 in his first six overs. He gave away a single off the second ball and followed that with a wide, before trapping Ansari lbw. Singles off the next two balls left Mujahid needing to score two off the last ball, and Altaf bowled Mujahid for 1 to give Lahore Eagles their first win of the tournament.Sent in to bat, Lahore Eagles were 101 for 5 after losing two wickets in the 17th over. Ikhlaq Butt and Zeeshan Ali put on a 144-run partnership before Butt fell in the 41st over for 109, after which Zeeshan and Altaf smashed 72 off the last 29 balls. Zeeshan finished on an unbeaten 84-ball 93, while Altaf struck left-arm spinner Babar Naeem for two fours and three sixes off the last five balls of the innings.Babar Agha made an unbeaten 116 as Karachi Zebras beat Peshawar Panthers by two wickets at the Arbab Niaz Stadium. Chasing 246, Karachi Zebras were 34 for 4 – fast bowler Azizullah had taken all four wickets – when Agha joined Naved Khan in a 119-run partnership for the fifth wicket.Karachi Zebras still needed 93 when Naved fell for an 83-ball 74, but the lower order rallied around Agha. He put on 59 with Ali Mudassar, who made 14, and an unbroken 25 with No. 10 Usama Basharat to take his team over the line with two balls remaining, after left-arm spinner Jibran Khan had struck twice to reduce them to 223 for 8.Earlier, Adil Amin scored a 121-ball 123 to take Peshawar Panthers’ 245 for 8. Five other batsmen got into double figures, but Mohammad Idrees’ 27 was their second-highest score. Ali Mudassar was Karachi Zebras’ most successful bowler with 3 for 35 in nine overs.Zahir Siddiqi took four wickets and scored 28 off eight balls as Bahawalpur Stags beat Abbottabad Falcons by four wickets at Abbottabad Cricket Stadium. After Mohammad Naeem built Abbottabad Falcons’ innings with a 58-ball 60, Siddiqi ran through their lower order to trigger a collapse from 200 for 6 to 219 all out with 5.5 overs to go.Bahawalpur Stags lost an early wicket but Mohammad Yasir and Faisal Mubashir steadied the innings with a 62-run partnership for the second wicket before two more wickets fell in quick succession. Adeel Basit, coming in at No.5, scored 62 off 74 balls and put up an unbroken 34 with Siddiqi, who hit three fours and two sixes in eight balls, to take the team home with 14 balls remaining.Group IIAhsan Kareem took three wickets and scored an 11-ball 15 to steer Islamabad Leopards to a one-wicket win over Faisalabad Wolves at Iqbal Stadium. Making his List A debut, the 25-year-old Kareem struck three early blows to leave Faisalabad Wolves reeling at 45 for 4. Hamza Zaheer and Hasan Mahmood scored 30s and added 56 for the fifth wicket, but a 26 from wicketkeeper Mohammad Miqdad was Faisalabad Wolves’ only other notable score as they were bowled out for 198 with an over to go.Opener Sarwar Khan made 47 and Sarmad Bhatti scored 33 but Islamabad Leopars kept losing wickets regularly as they slumped to 155 for 8, with 44 still to get. Wicketkeeper Salman Haider and Kareem took them to 198 when Shehroz Raza took his fourth wicket, dismissing Haider for a 29-ball 43. Kareem and his No.11 partner Shehzad Azam nonetheless held their nerve and completed the win with five balls remaining.Mir Hamza and Khurram Shahzad shared seven wickets, and Mohammad Waqas scored an unbeaten 62 as Karachi Dolphins beat Hyderabad Hawks by five wickets at the National Stadium in Karachi.Hyderabad Hawks never recovered after being reduced to 41 for 4, with Shahzad picking up three of the top four wickets. Shoaib Laghari scored 48 and put on 50 with Lal Kumar for the fifth wicket, but Hamza swept through the lower order to finish with four wickets, and their innings closed with 6.2 overs still remaining.Chasing 152, Karachi Dolphins were 23 for 4 before Waqas and Mohammad Hasan helped them recover with an 82-run partnership. Jawad Ali dismissed wicketkeeper Hasan for 46, but that was to be Hyderabad Hawks’ last success. Waqas saw Karachi Dolphins through to finish with 62 off 101 balls, and put on an unbroken 52 with Shahzaib Ahmed, who scored 25.Opener Arsalan Arshad scored 94 as Lahore Lions thumped Quetta Bears by 89 runs at the Gaddafi Stadium. Arshad struck nine fours and two sixes in a 123-ball knock that helped anchor a Lahore Lions innings without any other major contribution. Extras, in fact, were the team’s second-highest score – 40, of which 30 came in wides. Left-arm spinner Mohibullah took 5 for 43 in eight overs.Chasing 261, Quetta Bears never really got going and dwindled to 123 for 8 before Fareeduddin Agha and Gohar Faiz put on 43, the highest partnership of the innings. The visiting side were eventually all out for 171, with offspinner Agha Salman taking three wickets. Fareeduddin remained not out on 56, having hit six fours and a six in his 63-ball knock.

New Zealand fast bowler Daryl Tuffey has announced his retirement from all forms of cricket, ending a 12-year international career

ESPNcricinfo staff14-Sep-2012New Zealand fast bowler Daryl Tuffey has announced his retirement from all forms of cricket, ending a 12-year international career. Tuffey, who last played for his country in 2010, lost his central contract the following year, but was handed a domestic contract for 2012-13 with Auckland Aces last month.Tuffey, 34, said he had decided to retire because he had missed the most of last season due to injury.”I’ve had a few different injuries recently and they do get tougher to come back from,” Tuffey said. “It’s probably been my one major regret in cricket that I haven’t spent as much time on the field as I would have liked but it’s part and parcel of playing the game.”There aren’t many people who get the chance to get paid for playing the game they love and I feel really lucky that I’ve been able to do that. It’s been an honour to represent my country and to be able to do so in some great places around the world has been a bonus.”Tuffey made his Test debut during the home series against Australia in 1999-2000. His best performance was 6 for 54 at Eden Park to help New Zealand square the Test series against England in 2001-02. He was New Zealand’s regular opening bowler in the Test and ODI sides but had his share of breakdowns, including a damaged shoulder in 2005 which kept him out of the side for the best part of two years. He lost another two years when he signed for the rebel Indian Cricket League in 2007.He returned to New Zealand’s Test squad for the tour of Sri Lanka in mid 2009, but was plagued by injuries thereafter – he suffered broken bones in his hands twice in the following six months, before straining a bicep during a one-day series in India in November 2010.He played the last of his 26 Tests in 2010 against Australia, taking 77 wickets with two five-wicket hauls. He played 94 ODIs and took 110 wickets. In a 16-year first-class career, he took 288 wickets.He began his first-class career for Northern Districts in 1996-97 before moving to Auckland in 2008-09. Paul Strang, the Auckland coach, said Tuffey would be missed. “Daryl will be a huge loss to us because he brings so much to the side,” Strang said. “He’s been fantastic for us, especially in the short form and contributes a lot both on and off the field.”

Shane Watson will happily return to Australia’s Test team as a No. 3 batsman, having reasoned that he is no longer in a position to demand the opening spot he vacated due to injury in 2011

Daniel Brettig15-Mar-2012Shane Watson will happily return to Australia’s Test team as a No. 3 batsman, having reasoned that he is no longer in a position to demand the opening spot he vacated due to injury in 2011.Since Watson fell prey to hamstring and calf injuries, the contrasting David Warner and Ed Cowan have begun a fledgling top order partnership that shows all the signs of developing into a fruitful union. They are now set to resume opening duties in the Caribbean, as Watson slips into the No. 3 spot vacated by an under-performing Shaun Marsh.A year ago Watson could have named his place – and his price – in an Australian team struggling to find successful practitioners in most positions. However now the team led by Michael Clarke has completed a successful home summer without him, Watson said he was grateful to have any kind of place in the team, and would have no qualms about walking out at No. 3.”I’m happy to play anywhere to be honest after sitting out all the summer and seeing how successful the Test team was, there’s no doubt that I’d love to fit in wherever I possibly can,” Watson said in St Vincent. “I have really enjoyed opening the batting in Test cricket and all forms of the game, but in the end batting at No. 3 you’re still certainly in the engine room with a newer ball potentially.”So I’m happy to try and compliment the team wherever I possibly can, because it has been an extremely exciting and successful Test summer and I’d love to be a part of that.”Watson was given the first hint of his future position when he returned to the ODI XI at No. 3 during the home triangular series. He may yet return to opening in the West Indies in limited overs formats, as he and the coach Mickey Arthur formulate the best plan to attack the hosts.”That’s where I finished up this summer, batting at No. 3, and what we’re working through at the moment is what’s going to be the best balance for our batting line-up, not just with me but with the other guys we’ve got at our disposal as well,” Watson said. “So that’s what we’re talking through at the moment, what’s going to be the best balance and what we think the West Indies are going to throw at us as well.”Australia’s reduced reliance on senior players has been part of the coaching and selection strategy across the summer, which Arthur said had been geared at building a squad of about 22 players capable of stepping into action at any given moment. He pointed to current absentees including Pat Cummins, Clarke and Mitchell Johnson as proof the team was now better equipped to cope with a relentless cycle of fixtures.”One of the briefs at the start of the summer was to create depth, and I think that’s really important to create a depth pool that you can choose from,” Arthur said. “With the amount of cricket we play, there’s injuries always crop up and obviously loss of form. I think we’ve realised that we need to manage our best players better in order to get better results from them, so we needed to create that depth.”We wanted to create a depth pool of 22 players by the end of the summer and we’ve prettymuch done that, and that has been reflected in the Test selections. I’m very confident that every player who steps up now to the side has had the opportunity and knows what is expected of him, so it has been a pretty successful summer in that regard.”The West Indian team, led by Darren Sammy, can call on a strong record at the Arnos Vale Ground for confidence ahead of their first meeting with Watson’s team. Sammy has enjoyed two of his better international displays at the venue, 4 for 26 in an ODI against Zimbabwe in 2010, and 5 for 70 against Bangladesh in a Test in 2009.”So far St Vincent has been a very good ground for us, as a West Indies team we always get results in our favour here, and for me personally it is a happy hunting ground,” Sammy said. “The last three games we’ve played here we won all three, so obviously what happened against India and Pakistan we’re looking to repeat that and start this series off on a winning note.”We know we’re playing Australia and we’re not going to go out and play names, we’re just going to play good, positive cricket, and hopefully we can come out on top.”

On a day when Michael Clarke became Australia’s sixth triple-centurion in Test cricket and Michael Hussey scored his 16th Test hundred, Australia consolidated their enormous advantage in the second Test against India

The Report by Brydon Coverdale05-Jan-2012
Scorecard and ball-by-ball detailsMichael Clarke celebrates his triple-hundred•Getty ImagesMatthew Hayden, Mark Taylor, Don Bradman, Michael Clarke. That is the list of the men with the highest Test scores for Australia after a day on which Clarke not only wrote himself into the record books but also declared early enough to give his side a strong chance to push for victory over India. Clarke ended Australia’s innings with his own score on 329, choosing neither to seek the glory of chasing down Brian Lara’s world-record 400, nor even Taylor’s iconic 334, the best score by an Australian Test captain.Instead, he chose drinks in the middle session – the halfway point of the game – to declare Australia’s innings closed at 4 for 659. His partner, Michael Hussey, had just reached 150. His thinking as he and Hussey walked off to a standing ovation from the SCG crowd was clear: on a good pitch, Australia would need time to bowl India out, especially with the chance of rain on the fourth day. Personal milestones meant nothing. The team goal was all that mattered.By the close of play, Australia had two of the ten wickets they wanted. Virender Sehwag had gone in the fourth over of the innings. He flashed hard at a wide ball from Ben Hilfenhaus and was brilliantly snapped up at point by David Warner, whose split-second leap up and to his left allowed him to clasp his hands around the ball and remove India’s quickest scorer for 4.Hilfenhaus also accounted for Rahul Dravid, who was bowled for the third time in the series. On 29, Dravid moved his front foot across in line with off stump but left enough of a gap for the bowler to nip a ball in between bat and pad. The Wall is in desperate need of some mortar, but don’t expect the former bricklayer Hilfenhaus to supply it.At stumps, India were 2 for 114, still trailing by 354, and the Australians needed to find a way through the defences of Sachin Tendulkar, who was on 8. Unexpectedly, given his struggles in the first three innings of the series, it was Gautam Gambhir who was giving them the most trouble. He had reached 68 and was playing positively, having struck nine boundaries.Already he had his highest Test score in more than a year. However, Gambhir had been given a life on 66 when James Pattinson found his outside edge in the dying stages of the day. Brad Haddin dived to his left and for the second time in the series moved too far; the ball sailed between his arms while his gloves kept moving further towards first slip.The Australians knew it could be a costly let-off, for runs had flowed easily for Clarke and Hussey on the third day. In three hours of cricket, they added 177 for the loss of no wickets. In fact, from 4.43pm on the opening day of the match until 2.10pm on the third day, Australia had put on 622 runs for the loss of just one wicket, that of Ricky Ponting, who fell for 134 midway through the second afternoon.And while Hussey finished with 150 not out, the third day was all about Clarke. He not only became the sixth man to score a Test triple-century for Australia, his innings was also the best by an Australian captain in a home Test, surpassing Bradman’s 270 at the MCG in 1937. It also broke Tip Foster’s 108-year-old record for the highest score in an SCG Test; his 287 on debut was passed when Clarke drove a boundary through extra cover.That was a record that could not be overstated, especially in the SCG’s 100th Test. Over the years, 3747 times batsmen have walked out on to the Sydney Cricket Ground to commence a Test innings. In all of those performances, nobody has ever scored as many as Clarke did over the past three days. He went to lunch on 293, and it took barely ten minutes after the break for his triple-century to arrive.It came with a flick off his pads for a boundary off Ishant Sharma, an appropriate shot for Clarke had punished anything on his legs throughout the innings. In truth, there was hardly a region of the ground in which Clarke didn’t score freely: he drove through off and down the ground, cut, pulled and glanced with ease. He was slow out of the blocks on the third morning, ensuring he got himself set again, but never did his innings stagnate.He was helped by the presence of Hussey, who became the third centurion in Australia’s innings. In a 334-run partnership with Clarke, Hussey kept the scoreboard ticking over at a reasonable rate. He brought up his 16th Test hundred with a single tickled towards third man off Sehwag’s offspin shortly before lunch, and he pumped his fists with delight.Although it was Hussey’s fifth Test century since the start of the Ashes last summer, he had also fallen for three golden ducks during his past nine innings. At no did India seriously look like breaking the partnership, although R Ashwin bowled an impressive, searching spell in the opening session.The action in the middle became so predictable that in the ABC radio commentary box Harsha Bhogle and Kerry O’Keeffe entertained listeners by challenging each other to eat the world’s hottest chilli. Meanwhile, in the Channel Nine box, Ian Healy quizzed Bill Lawry on pigeon diseases.But all eyes were fixed on Clarke as he reached his triple-century, and when he declared less than an hour later. It was a captain’s innings in every way, just as he delivered in Cape Town against South Africa in November. Australia lost that Test. Clarke made sure they won’t lose this one.

Gary Ballance and Azeem Rafiq spared Yorkshire’s blushes at Headingley after Unicorns had threatened to pull off a shock victory

12-Aug-2012
ScorecardGary Ballance and Azeem Rafiq spared Yorkshire’s blushes at Headingley after Unicorns had threatened to pull off a shock victory in the CB40 League Group C encounter.Chasing a modest revised target of 162 in 37 overs, Yorkshire appeared to be cruising at 34 without loss but then four wickets fell for seven runs in the space of 22 deliveries, and when rain caused a brief interruption at 78 for 5 in 18.4 overs they were well behind the required rate.Fortunately for the home side, Ballance kept his nerve with a fine unbeaten 69 and he was well supported by Rafiq, who made 34, the pair putting on an unbroken 91 for the sixth wicket to haul Yorkshire back into the match and they went on to win by five wickets with three overs remaining.The slide began when paceman, Bob Woolley, came into the attack and his first ball sent captain Andrew Gale’s off-stump flying. In the next over, Adam Lyth edged Glen Querl to wicketkeeper, Tom New, and it became four wickets in as many overs as Woolley had Phil Jaques taken at first slip and David Miller was caught behind off Querl without scoring.Ballance and Adil Rashid appeared to be getting on top of the situation until Rashid fell lbw to Paul Hindmarch the delivery after flicking him over backward square leg for six.The short rain break seemed to settle Yorkshire’s nerves and the batsmen began to take control, Ballance reverse sweeping Luke Beaven for four and Rafiq driving Bradley Wadlan to the cover boundary.Ballance off-drove Beaven for a mighty six to reach his half-century off 76 balls and when he hit the winning boundary he had received 83 balls and struck six fours and a six. Against the same opponents at Scarborough earlier in the season, Ballance plundered 103 not out.Put in to bat, Unicorns were never able to break free from the stranglehold imposed on them by Ryan Sidebottom and Rashid and they would not have reached 150 for 6 off their 37 overs but for an unbroken seventh wicket stand of 56 between skipper, Keith Parsons, and Woolley.Making his first appearance in just over six weeks after recovering from a calf injury, Sidebottom swung the ball appreciably in the humid conditions and he struck in his opening over when Wadlan offered no stroke and had his leg stump flattened.Vishal Tripathi and New tried hard to settle the innings down but at 32 in the ninth over Sidebottom struck again by dismissing New, the left-hander nibbling outside off-stump to give a catch to 22-year-old debutant wicketkeeper, Dan Hodgson, from Northallerton.Moin Ashraf held on to a return catch from Jayden Levitt before Rashid joined the attack in the 15th over and began with two wickets in his first over, bowling the patient Tripathi with a googly and trapping James Ord lbw with a similar delivery.He went on to bowl Luis Reece for 25, his only boundary shot being a big six off Rafiq, and Rashid’s final figures of 3 for 24 followed hot on the heels of his career-best 4 for 38 against Northamptonshire in the previous match.At 94 for 6 in 27 overs, a complete slump was prevented by Parsons and Woolley, but a sudden break for rain at 141 for 6 in 36.1 overs brought about a reduction in the overs.With only five balls remaining on the resumption, Parsons immediately belted Sidebottom for six over mid-wicket. His unbeaten 48 came off 60 deliveries with two fours and a six while Woolley made 28 not out with three fours.

A round-up of the Faysal Bank T20 Cup matches played on November 29, 2013

ESPNcricinfo staff29-Nov-2013Group AMedium-pacer Najaf Shah spearheaded an incisive bowling performance from Pakistan International Airlines as they thumped Pakistan Television, who were 0 for 5 at one stage, by 10 wickets in Lahore. Najaf finished with 4 for 26 to run through a Pakistan TV batting order that offered next to nothing apart from a 59-run seventh-wicket stand between the captain Zohaib Ahmed and Yasim Murtaza. But the partnership made little difference in the end, as Pakistan TV could only muster up 96 runs from their 20 overs. Their poor batting effort saw nine of their batsmen fail to reach double-digit scores, with five of them being dismissed for ducks.PIA needed less than 15 overs to overhaul this paltry target, as Kamran Sajid and the captain Sarfraz Ahmed put up an opening-stand of 97. Sarfraz struck seven fours during his 50- his second Twenty20 half-century, while Sajid’s 39 included four fours.National Bank of Pakistan suffered a third straight defeat when they lost to United Bank Limited by six wickets at Lahore City Cricket Association ground. Opting to bowl, UBL restricted NBP on 127, with left-arm spinner Kashif Bhatti picking up 3 for 27. Sami Aslam (23 off 32) Usman Qadir (36) were the only batsman to offer fight. Solid top-order contributions ensured the target of 128 was reached with five balls to spare. Abid Ali’s 48 of 36 provided the initial impetus, Bismillah Khan made sure one end was secure while Wajihuddin struck a 11-ball 20 to help seal the chase. Usman Qadir and Raza Hassan picked up two wickets apiece for NBP.Fifties from Zain Abbas and Naved Yasin led Khan Research Laboratories to a seven-wicket victory over State Bank of Pakistan. SBP lost an early wicket after opting to bat but Kashif Siddiq (37 off 44) stabilized the innings. Rameez Raja (46 off 33) and a late push from Usman Saeed (20 off 16) took them to 141. KRL suffered early losses as well but opener Abbas (56* off 52) and Yasin (54* off 40) put on 110 for the fourth wicket to help overhaul the target quite comfortably. Seamer Faisal Yasin with 3 for 13 was the pick of the bowlers for SBP.Group BZarai Taraqiati Bank Limited became the first team to qualify for the semi-final after beating Water and Power Development Authority by five wickets. Left-arm spinner Zafar Gohar picked up 4 for 20 to limit WAPDA to 101 and later hit two sixes and two fours in his 17-ball 30 to inspire his side to emphatic victory. Five WAPDA batsmen were dismissed for single figures as opener Aamer Sajjad (23 off 34) and Sarfraz Ahmed (25 off 14) were the only batsmen to offer resistance. ZTBL stumbled during the chase, losing four quick wickets, but the target was soft enough that they reached home with three overs to spare.Port Qasim Authority recovered from their overnight defeat to get the better of Habib Bank Limited by 39 runs and climb to third place in the Faysal Bank T20 tournament. However, HBL are out of the running for a semi-final spot after two consecutive losses. Asked to bat first, PQA’s openers put up a solid 60-run stand but were dismissed in space of three balls. The scoring rate dipped thereafter with PQA reaching their hundred in the 14th over. But Khurram Manzoor (57 off 35) and Faraz Ali (32 off 31) plundered 65 runs in last six overs to post a fighting total of 165. HBL’s reply was sloppy. They were 31 for 4 when Hasan Raza (48 off 47) and Umar Gul (15 off 18) attempted to stabilise the innings, but PQA bowlers were too hot to handle. Sohail Khan, with 3 for 14, was the pick of the bowlers while Mohammad Talha, Mohammad Sami and Kamran Younis picked up two wickets each.

Adil Rashid made an unbeaten hundred and proclaimed he and Yorkshire were ‘getting along nicely’ after a difficult period

David Hopps at Headingley07-May-2013Yorkshire 332 for 5 (Rashid 120*, Ballance 107) v Somerset
ScorecardAccording to Adil Rashid, he and Yorkshire have “come to an agreement”. That was something Ajmal Shahzad could never claim. Shahzad was packed off for what was perceived as a headstrong insistence on his right to be a free spirit. There is reason to anticipate that Rashid can write a happier ending.To keep faith with their talented production line of Asian cricketers, Yorkshire need that happy ending as much as Rashid does.”We have come to an agreement.” How many times have such words been uttered in Yorkshire cricket over the decades only for them to be worthless by the next morning? Perhaps they were more uncompromising times. There was something in Rashid’s unbeaten 120 on a gloriously sunny Headingley day that promised much, the conviction of his crouching, thou-shall-not-pass defence; the rasp of his cuts; his wristy working of the leg side, a most un-Yorkshire skill that one.Two England selectors were at Headingley, Geoff Miller and James Whitaker. Their interest will have primarily been in Gary Ballance, Rashid having long disappeared off their radar as his command of his legspin faltered, but they could not fail to be impressed by the sight of an allrounder seemingly more at peace with his game. A career that has involved three England tours and an experimental use as an attacking Twenty20 bowler might one day – although not imminently – have a second coming.”Yorkshire Are Ruining Me” was the headline last month, as Rashid complained that his captain, Andrew Gale, did not understand legspin, that he needed more faith in his ability if he was to express himself and that if he had another year like 2012 he would be “dropping down, down, down and gone”. The irony was that he had made the comments in January and by the time they became public knowledge, a better understanding was already in place.”Everything’s sorted,” Rashid said. “We’re all getting along nicely. This season my confidence has been quite high so I’m looking to carry that on and perform day in, day out. You have your good days and bad days but I’m in an okay place.Yorkshire turns out for Yorkshire

Mark Arthur, Yorkshire’s new chief executive, happily accepted that it was a godsend that both Joe Root and Jonny Bairstow will, in all likelihood, make their first Test appearances at Headingley against New Zealand later this month and give Yorkshire a chance to make a modest indentation in their £19m debts.
A cold winter has left the Headingley Test still 25% below budget but the presence of Root and Bairstow is quickening interest for tickets in a match which the chairman and outgoing chief executive, Colin Graves, accepted needed “a kick up the backside”.
Arthur, who has taken up the role of Yorkshire’s chief executive less than five months after he fell victim to a purge by the Kuwaiti owners of Nottingham Forest FC, preferred to put it differently. “Yorkshire is a unique brand and to have Joe Root and Jonny Bairstow in the frame is a fantastic boost,” he said. “By supporting England, it could not be clearer that the public will be supporting Yorkshire cricket.”

“I was looking for a bit of freedom to play my game. It was about the fact that you know your game and you have been playing long enough to know what to do. It was about all about communicating with the captain and the coach and coming to an agreement.”Part of the problem was that when it came to Yorkshire stereotypes, Rashid could compete with the best in his ability to be monosyllabic. Such introversion hardly seemed the natural accompaniment for a player yearning to attack, whether he had a ball or a bat in his hand.At 25, he is looking – and sounding – more confident in himself. Batting conditions had not entirely eased when Rashid came in at 89 for 4 but he shared in a record Yorkshire fifth-wicket stand at Headingley of 207 in 62 overs with Ballance, whose own hundred, a pugnacious affair ended when he fell lbw to a full delivery from Steve Kirby, played a major part in reshaping the match by the close. This looks to be another belting batting surface and Yorkshire will be well aware that Derbyshire made 475 in their first innings here last week and lost.Batting Rashid at No. 6 should be part of the New Deal. “I haven’t batted at six for a long time. It was nice to have that responsibility,” he said. This was his fifth first-class century and his first for four years, an indication of lost time.Somerset had a fruitful morning. When Rashid came in, four wickets had fallen by the 26th over, Phil Jacques had just been pouched by Marcus Trescothick at first slip and, if Trescothick had held a low catch when Jaques was 22, the situation could have been direr. The first three wickets had fallen to wicketkeeping catches by Jos Buttler, the best of them a diving effort to dismiss Adam Lyth.Rashid and Ballance proved that the stability which Joe Root had brought to Yorkshire’s season with the two most domineering innings of his life – back-to-back hundreds to drive home victories against Durham and Derbyshire – had not necessarily departed with him. Somerset’s day became wearier by the hour and long before the close the disposition of the Yorkshire members was once again almost as sunny as the weather.

A round-up of the two matches played in the Caribbean T20 in Port of Spain

ESPNcricinfo staff08-Jan-2013
ScorecardBarbados thrashed Leeward Islands by nine wickets, after dismissing their opponents for 87 and then achieving the target in 8.2 overs at Queen’s Park Oval. Only one Leeward Islands batsman, Chesney Hughes, reached double figures while the other ten managed only 42 runs together. Barbados fast bowler Tino Best finished with figures of 4 for 26, his best in a domestic T20 match.Leeward Islands chose to bat and Best started the collapse by dismising Kieran Powell with the first ball of the match. Hughes was the only man to provide resistance with a 23-ball 34. The next best score was 8 and extras contributed 11 to Leeward Islands’ total.Barbados chased their target by scoring at nearly 11 runs per over, after the openers put on 65 in 4.3 overs. Justin Brathwaite scored a 16-ball 42, which included four sixes and three fours. His opening partner Dwayne Smith also scored quickly, hitting four fours and two sixes in an unbeaten 36 off 21 balls.
ScorecardIn a dramatic finish to the second match of the day at Queen’s Park Oval, Guyana scored 13 runs in the last over to beat Combined Campuses and Colleges (CCC) by two wickets. Guyana needed 19 runs from 12 balls but Raymon Reifer took two wickets off the first two balls to complete a hat-trick – he had taken one off the last ball of his previous over – and added another wicket off the fifth ball, leaving Guyana in trouble.They needed ten off the last two deliveries from Jason Holder, who then bowled a no-ball off which the batsmen ran two. With seven to get, and two balls still remaining, Veerasammy Permaul swung a six over midwicket and scampered a leg-bye to take Guyana home off the final ball.Guyana’s chase of 160 was led by Shivnarine Chanderpaul and Narsingh Deonarine, who shared a 62-run partnership and took the score to 91 for 3 before Chanderpaul was dismissed. CCC took two more wickets in the next five overs, putting the match in the balance before it slipped away from them in the final over.CCC’s innings had been led by a blistering knock from Chadwick Walton, who fell short of his hundred by one run. He anchored the innings and had partnerships of 50 and 58 for the first two wickets. Walton helped CCC scored 61 off the last five overs, his contribution was 48 from 17, including four sixes in the last over.