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• Yorkshire sign charter to support Muslim members following racism row

  Yorkshire have signed a charter committing them to recognising the needs of their Muslim players, staff and supporters.

  The club are awaiting sanctions over their handling of allegations of racism and bullying by former player Azeem Rafiq and a failure to address systemic use of racist and discriminatory language over a prolonged period.

  The Rafiq case led to major changes in the club’s leadership, with Lord Kamlesh Patel appointed chair in November 2021 and overseeing a raft of governance changes before he stood down in March this year.

  That has included working with Nujum Sports, a group which seeks to challenge clubs and organisations to make progress in supporting Muslim sportsmen and women, for over a year.

  Now Yorkshire have signed up to Nujum’s Muslim Athlete Charter.

  There are 10 points contained within the charter, such as providing space for non-consumption of alcohol, including during celebrations, the provision of appropriate places to pray, halal food, and accommodating staff and players who are fasting during Ramadan.

  Yorkshire’s equality, diversity and inclusion manager Mo Hussain said: “The pledge is another step in fulfilling our commitment to becoming a truly inclusive club.

  “Alongside our multi-faith space, providing non-alcohol family stands, and provision of halal food, our player changing spaces have also been upgraded to ensure the religious and cultural needs of our players can be met.

  “We have been working closely with Nujum Sports for more than a year and look forward to developing this relationship further.”

  Yorkshire have admitted four charges in total related to the racism scandal, with a Cricket Discipline Commission (CDC) panel holding a sanctions hearing on June 27.

  Six former Yorkshire players were sanctioned by the CDC last month in relation to the same case, with a seventh – former England captain Michael Vaughan – cleared at the end of March of using racist language towards Rafiq and three other Yorkshire players of Asian ethnicity.

• Wicket off a no-ball and three dropped catches – Australia give India hope

  Careless footwork and sloppy catching halted Australia’s progress as India fought back on the third morning of the World Test Championship final at the Oval.

  Australia enjoyed a dream start when Scott Boland scattered Srikar Bharat’s stumps with the second ball of the day, leaving India 317 behind with just four wickets in hand, but despite creating plenty of chances that was the only breakthrough of the session.

  Usman Khawaja, Cameron Green and David Warner all put down chances to allow a century stand between Ajinkya Rahane (89no) and Shardul Thakur (36no) to shore up India on 260 for six at lunch, a deficit of 209.

  Captain Pat Cummins also erred, denied a possible wicket for the second time in the innings due to a front-foot no-ball. He had Rahane lbw for 17 on day two, only for replays to show he had overstepped, and he saw history repeating itself just before the break when he had Thakur given out after being struck on the knee-roll.

  Umpire Richard Kettleborough immediately raised his finger, much to Australia’s relief, but a DRS review showed Cummins had once again failed to get anything behind the line.

  Boland, pushing hard to retain his place for next week’s Ashes opener at Edgbaston, started superbly as he ripped his second delivery through a small gap between Bharat’s bat and pad and straight into middle.

  Had Thakur’s thick edge been held by Khawaja in the cordon four balls later, India may well have struggled to come back from it. Instead the ball squirmed out of his fingertips and the battle continued.

  Thakur needed plenty of bravery to stick around, requiring lengthy treatment after being hit three times by Cummins in a single over – wearing blows on the forearm, wrist and glove.

  Having softened him up, the seamer should have got his rewards when Thakur sprayed a chance to gully but this time Green’s handiwork let him down.

  With Thakur in a state of almost permanent danger, Rahane gave the vocal Indian crowd something to cheer when he hooked Cummins over fine-leg for six to bring up his half-century.

  He passed 5,000 Test runs soon after, the 13th Indian to do so, but he also required a stroke of fortune to reach the break.

  On 72 he aimed a flowing drive at Cummins, sending a head-high catch to first slip. Wicketkeeper Alex Carey appeared to offer a minor distraction to Warner, but he will still be kicking himself after seeing the ball pop out and land safe.

  A handful of boundaries took the partnership into three figures as India began to have some fun, while Australia’s annoyance only increased when Cummins saw his lbw against Thakur overturned by the no-ball call.

• Steve Smith looking forward to seeing how England fare against Australia attack

  Steve Smith invited England to try and make ‘Bazball’ pay off in the Ashes after Australia bowlers took control of the World Test Championship final against India, declaring: “they haven’t come up against us yet”.

  England have spent the last year establishing themselves as the most daring red-ball team around, scoring at a frantic rate against New Zealand, South Africa and Pakistan and notching 11 wins from 13 games under Ben Stokes’ captaincy.

  One by one they have lined up to take aim at England’s ultra-attacking approach, but Stokes and company have yet to take their foot off the throttle.

  Australia clearly fancy their chances of breaking the streak and Smith saw no reason to doubt his side’s attack after they put the squeeze on India on day two at the Oval.

  Seamers Pat Cummins, Scott Boland, Mitchell Starc and Cameron Green each took a wicket, as did spinner Nathan Lyon, with India closing day two on 151 for five – 318 adrift.

  Asked if England’s preferred style would be a success against that bowling pack, Smith said: “I think I said it initially when ‘Bazball’ started that I’m intrigued to see how it goes against our bowlers. I’ve said that all along.

  “I think it’d be difficult on this kind of wicket – up and down and seaming around – it’s not easy to defend, let alone come out and swing.

  “They’ve obviously done well against some other attacks, but they haven’t come up against us yet. So, we’ll see.

  “It’s obviously been exciting to watch. I must say I’ve enjoyed watching the way they’ve played and the way that I guess they’ve turned things around in the last 12 months or so, but it’s yeah we’ll wait and see how it comes off against us.”

  Smith played a significant role of his own in putting Australia firmly in charge in London, taking his tally of Test centuries to 31. He spent just over five-and-a-half hours compiling 121, sharing a stand of 285 with the more expansive Travis Head (163).

  Smith has now scored seven hundreds in English conditions, amassing 774 runs in the 2019 Ashes at a staggering average of 110.57.

  “It was nice to spend a lot of time out there against some good bowlers on a challenging wicket after getting sent in. I’ll take a lot of confidence out of that and hopefully can keep building and have a successful summer here,” he said.

  “I think in terms of English wickets it’s probably as close to Australia as you get. I’ve enjoyed playing here and it was nice to score a few out here again.”