Dan Lawrence delivered a message to England ahead of the fourth Ashes Test, bludgeoning nine sixes as he recorded a second successive LV= Insurance County Championship hundred for Essex.
After missing out at Headingley last week as England went with an extra bowler following Ollie Pope’s injury, Lawrence, celebrating his 26th birthday, took the attack to Lancashire to rescue Essex from nought for two at Blackpool.
He was out from the final ball of day three but his belligerent 135 off 125 deliveries was his third century of the season and lifted Essex to 292 for eight and a lead of 429 in the Division One clash.
Lawrence is in the squad for next week’s penultimate Test at Emirates Old Trafford and his recent form could give England something to think about as they mull over whether to change a winning XI.
Essex were also bolstered by Doug Bracewell’s unbeaten 61 off 35 balls after earlier bowling Lancashire out for 145, with Sam Cook taking four for 42 while Paul Walter chipped in with three wickets.
Half-centuries from Dom Sibley and Tom Latham carried Division One leaders Surrey to a lead of 156 against Nottinghamshire at the Kia Oval.
Nottinghamshire carved out a 44-run advantage on first innings, largely thanks to 145 from Will Young, whose time at the crease was ended by an excellent agile catch from England discard Ben Foakes.
Surrey captain Rory Burns bagged his second duck of the match but Sibley’s 87 and Latham’s 60, plus 25 from Foakes, carried the hosts to 200 for five at stumps.
Warwickshire recorded an innings-and-46-run win inside three days over Kent, who were all out for 332 second time around at Canterbury, where Oliver Hannon-Dalby collected four for 59.
Felix Organ (97) and Kyle Abbott (89) put on 177 for the ninth wicket for Hampshire, who were asked to follow-on after posting 330 in response to Somerset’s 500. Hampshire closed on 34 for two at Taunton.
Sam Whiteman’s 114 plus 85 not out from Emilio Gay ushered rock-bottom Northamptonshire to 372 for seven and a lead of 314 against fellow strugglers Middlesex at Merchant Taylors’ School.
Matthew Potts took four for 55 as Division Two leaders Durham completed a nine-wicket victory over Gloucestershire at Chester-le-Street.
Potts’ haul included bowling Gloucestershire’s top-three of Ben Charlesworth, Chris Dent and Oliver Price as the visitors were all out for 188, and Durham knocked off a 52-run target in 11.4 overs.
Ben Coad’s five for 33 led to Worcestershire being skittled for 242 in reply to Yorkshire’s 407 at New Road, where the hosts were grateful for nightwatchmen Ben Gibbon and Adam Finch as they ended the day on 22 without loss in their follow-on.
James Coles’ 101 not out steered Sussex from 72 for four to 193 for five and a lead of 188 against Derbyshire, who were earlier all out for 407 after Brooke Guest’s 105 at Hove.
Michael Neser, an outside bet for Australia in Manchester next week, thumped an unbeaten 176 as Glamorgan rallied from 93 for seven to post 403 for nine declared against Leicestershire, who closed on 28 without loss in their rain-hit clash.
Windies to test T20 World Cup readiness against South Africa, Australia in Jamaica and T&T; final squad to be named this week
With the ICC Men’s Twenty 20 World Cup now just about a month away, Darren Sammy and his West Indies team will up the tempo on preparations, before testing their readiness for the June 1-29 global showpiece, with a final warm-up match against Australia in Trinidad and Tobago.
Sammy’s final squad, which is expected to be named sometime this week, will be one of nine teams to travel to the Trinidad and Tobago in May for eight warm-up matches, four of which will take place at the Brian Lara Cricket Academy, while the other four is scheduled for the historic Queen’s Park Oval. The teams will arrive in twin island republic on May 21.
The revelation came from Cricket West Indies’s (CWI) CEO Johnny Grave during the recently-concluded CARICOM conference on West Indies cricket themed ‘Reinvigorating West Indies Cricket’, in Port of Spain.
Grave explained that the final West Indies squad will not convene in full until they travel to Jamaica at the end of May to engage South Africa in three warm-up contests. However, he pointed out that there will be a camp in Antigua prior, which will involve members of the final squad, who are not plying their trade in the Indian Premier League.
From Jamaica, the Rovman Powell-captained squad will then travel to Trinidad and Tobago for the clash against 50-over World Cup winners Australia, ahead of the tournament to be hosted in the Caribbean and United States.
West Indies, the 2012 and 2016 champions, are hunting a third T20 World Cup title.
“We’re going to have a week-long preparation camp in Antigua from May 12, before heading to Jamaica. We’re then going to leave Jamaica and come here to Trinidad and Tobago for a week’s preparation, including playing at the historic Queen’s Park Oval on May 30, in an evening fixture against one of the tournament favourites Australia,” Grave shared.
“That will probably be one of the only games in the warm-up schedule that will be ticketed, and we certainly hope that the fans here in Trinidad, and particularly those in Port of Spain, will come out and rally behind the West Indies in that warm-up match, which is the final game we’ll play before we head to Guyana for the opening game on June 2,” he added.
West Indies, who are drawn in Group C alongside New Zealand, Afghanistan, Uganda and Papua New Guinea, will open against the latter at the Guyana National Stadium on June 2.
Grave urged fans to come out and rally behind the West Indies outfit in their push to start the tournament on a high.
“Making sure we have a huge party in Georgetown, and we get off to a winning start (will be crucial). We all know in these global tournaments, confidence and momentum are important and we can think of nothing better than starting with a victory in Guyana and ending it in Barbados on June 29 with a similar victory,” Grave said.
Archer included in England's T20 World Cup squad
Jofra Archer has been recalled to England’s provisional squad for the T20 World Cup in the West Indies and United States this June.
The 29-year-old, who has not played competitive cricket since May due to a long-term elbow injury, could make his first appearance for the international team since a tour of Bangladesh in March 2023.
Archer has been limited to just 15 T20Is since his England debut in 2019 and missed their 2022 World Cup success in Australia due to the same injury.
There is a recall for fellow fast-bowler Chris Jordan, who last played for England against New Zealand in September 2023, at the expense of Chris Woakes.
Uncapped Lancashire left-arm spinner, Tom Hartley, is also named in Jos Buttler’s 15-man squad, which includes nine players from the 2022 World Cup.
England will play a four-match T20 series against Pakistan at Headingley in May before they begin their T20 World Cup title defence against Scotland in Barbados on 4 June.
England’s provisional squad:
Jos Buttler (captain), Moeen Ali, Jofra Archer, Jonny Bairstow, Harry Brook, Sam Curran, Ben Duckett, To Hartley, Will Jacks, Chris Jordan, Liam Livingston, Adil Rashid, Phil Salt, Reece Topley, Mark Wood.
IPL: Salt stars as KKR get back to winning ways
Phil Salt inspired Kolkata Knight Riders to get back to winning ways in the Indian Premier League as they beat Delhi Capitals with an emphatic seven-wicket victory.
The Capitals had surpassed 220 runs in each of their last two matches, but their chances of doing so again were dented early on, Prithvi Shaw walking for 13 before the in-form Jake Fraser-McGurk followed before the end of the third over, his flat drive being taken by Venkatesh Iyer near the boundary for 12.
Varun Chakaravarthy posted figures of 3-16 as Kolkata prevented their visitors from mounting any kind of response, with only Kuldeep Yadav's unbeaten 35 off 26 balls helping them crawl beyond the 150 mark and finish their innings on 153-9.
Salt started brilliantly for Kolkata, plundering his way to a half-century within the first six overs of the chase. He was bowled by Axar Patel, but only after the openers had raced to 79-0, with Sunil Narine and Rinku Singh dismissed shortly after.
Shreyas and Venkatesh Iyer ticked off the remaining runs with ease, securing the win for Kolkata with 21 balls left.
Data Debrief: A sprinkle of Salt
England all-rounder Will Jacks smashed an unbeaten century off just 41 balls to propel Royal Challengers Bangalore to victory over Gujarat Titans on Sunday, and his compatriot Salt followed up with a stunning knock this time around.
He reached 52 in just 26 balls, with a further two boundaries taking him to 60 and seeing Kolkata reach 79 by the end of the powerplay. His knock included seven fours and five sixes.
SportsMax is the Caribbean sports channel of choice, committed to providing sporting content of the highest quality to the Caribbean, delivered by a team of highly innovative, passionate and qualified professionals.
(876) 619-7629
digitalmedia@sportsmax.tv
