Richard Gould, the chief executive of the England and Wales Cricket Board, has insisted making changes to the format of The Hundred is “not something that’s on my agenda”.

The peak summer month of August has been controversially ring-fenced for the third season of The Hundred, which still polarises opinion among cricket fans and is exclusively played in the UK.

Reports last month suggested its structure was being considered and the theory gained traction with the news Sanjay Patel, mastermind and managing director of The Hundred, would leave the ECB in September.

But Gould argued the distinction between the 100-ball competition and its T20 rivals abroad is a selling point and admitted Sky and the BBC, the ECB’s broadcast partners, are champions of The Hundred.

“In a crowded market, it is a point of difference,” Gould said on the Final Word podcast. “The format is not something that’s on my agenda, in this regard.

“Sky have been really supportive in driving it forward, it’s given us that point of difference and everyone in the cricketing world has heard of The Hundred, that’s a good thing.

“As long as people are talking about the game, I’m happy.

“There is always going to be arguments with competition, as to what we do and where we go next but we will be utterly pragmatic and more focused on progressive improvement and we will do it in a collaborative manner where everybody can feel involved.”

According to a report from Worcestershire chair Fanos Hira, the competition made a £9million loss in its first two seasons, a figure disputed by the ECB which says a profit of £11.8m was achieved.

Gould and ECB chair Richard Thompson were once prominent critics when The Hundred was first broached during their stints in identical roles at Surrey but the pair’s stance has softened appreciably.

But while Gould sees substantial upsides to The Hundred, he believes there is room for improvement amid a proliferation of domestic white-ball competitions from all over the world fighting for attention.

“You see the competition we’re in globally now and every country needs to have a super primetime white-ball domestic competition,” Gould said.

“We have invested very heavily in The Hundred over a number of years, both emotionally and financially.

“We are not going to take The Hundred out, we are going to make it bigger and better. We’re going to make the whole of cricket bigger and better, that is our aim.

“I think the level of investment that has gone into The Hundred has delivered really good returns in terms of a new audience. The broadcasters really enjoy it, the BBC have put it on free-to-air.”

Gould, who has already opened the door for multi-year central contracts and increased match fees for England players, accepted salaries in The Hundred may need to go up to compete with its market rivals.

Currently, the highest bracket for the men in The Hundred is £125,000 while for women it is £31,250.

“Salaries will need to go up, not just for The Hundred but also for international cricket because we can see there is a global market for players,” Gould added.

“The difficulty for the ECB and our revenues is we have so many mouths to feed whereas the franchise tournaments can just take the cream off the top, they don’t get charged for the players, they’re very efficient models at getting money back into the players’ pockets but they’re not funding the pathway.

“We’re always going to fund the pathway but having a really strong and healthy pathway is the secret to long-term success, you’ve got to have the players.”

Stuart Broad edged closer to adding his name to the Lord’s honours board but all-rounder Curtis Campher held up England’s charge in the afternoon session to guide Ireland to 162 for seven at tea.

Broad ripped through the Ireland top order during the first hour of the one-off Test with three wickets to reduce the tourists to 64 for four despite Paul Stirling’s entertaining knock of 30

When opener James McCollum edged behind soon after lunch to depart for 36 to give Broad a fourth scalp, Ireland were wobbling on 98 for five but Campher held firm.

Jack Leach grabbed his second scalp and Matthew Potts claimed a first Test wicket since August, but Campher’s unbeaten 32 saw Ireland make it through a second session.

England’s journey to Lord’s from their Kensington hotel had been delayed by five minutes due to Just Stop Oil protesters and enhanced security measures were put in place by the MCC to thwart any potential disruptions during the four-day Test.

With overcast conditions and a green wicket at the Home of Cricket, it was no surprise when Ben Stokes put Ireland into bat after he won the toss and Broad quickly set about trying to get his name on the honours board again.

In the absence of rested duo James Anderson and Ollie Robinson, the Nottinghamshire seamer produced a fine opening spell of three for 14 from five overs.

It did take Broad until the third over to make the breakthrough but Peter Moor, fresh from a century in the warm-up fixture at Essex last weekend, was pinned in front lbw for 10.

Broad’s next over produced even more drama with Ireland captain Andrew Balbirnie out for a five-ball duck after he edged to second slip where Zak Crawley took an excellent low catch diving to his left.

Harry Tector followed his skipper back to the pavilion two balls later when he inexplicably flicked straight to Potts at leg slip but Broad was denied a hat-trick opportunity when an lbw decision against Stirling was overturned on review after ball-tracker showed it was missing leg stump.

It enabled Stirling to lead a mini-recovery for Ireland but his enterprising 30 was ended when his attempted sweep flicked off his glove and gave Jonny Bairstow a simple catch behind the stumps to help Leach get off the mark this summer.

Stirling had put on 45 for the fourth wicket with opener McCollum, who made it to lunch unbeaten on 29 but his pursuit of a maiden Test fifty ended early into the afternoon session.

Again it was the third over of Broad’s spell that did the trick, with McCollum squared up and only able to edge to Joe Root at first slip to depart for a hard-fought 36 off 108 deliveries.

Warm applause greeted Ireland’s hundred via a single from Lorcan Tucker, but the wicketkeeper became Leach’s second victim when he was hit on his front pad and a review adjudged the delivery to be clipping off-stump.

Campher and Andy McBrine tried to shift the momentum and take the attack to England, but Potts had the last laugh when the latter edged behind an 88.9mph delivery to Bairstow.

Debutant Josh Tongue continued to admirably back up the England attack and hit 91mph at one stage, but Campher survived his sharp bouncer and a concussion check to reach tea unbeaten.

West Indies ‘A’ will have to take 10 wickets on Friday’s final day if they are to win the third unofficial Test against Bangladesh ‘A’ at the Syhlet International Stadium.

At stumps on Thursday, Bangladesh reached 47 without loss in their second innings, still needing to score 414 more to achieve a most unlikely victory.

Resuming from their overnight score of 157-7 with Nasum Ahmed on seven and Tanzim Hasan Sakib on 17, Bangladesh ‘A’ were bowled out for 205 thanks to Nasum Ahmed’s unbeaten 38.

Hasan Sakib failed to add to his overnight score when he was bowled by Veerasammy Permaul, who took all three remaining Bangladeshi wickets to finish with figures of 3-38. Kevin Sinclair took 2-75 and Anderson Phillip 2-36.

With a healthy lead of 240 runs, the West Indies declined to enforce the follow-on and went in search of quick runs. Opener Tagenarine Chanderpaul scored 83, his second such score of the match as the West Indies raced to 220-5 from 55.2 overs. Captain Joshua da Silva contributed an unbeaten 47, his third such score of the series.

Saif Hasan was the chief wicket-taker with 3-62 while Nasum Ahmed supported with 2-56.

Set a mammoth 461 for victory, Bangladesh ‘A’ still have a mountain to climb to achieve victory on the final day. Mahmudul Hasan Joy will resume on 28. With him at the crease is Zakir Hasan on 14.

West Indies ‘A’ lead the series 1-0.

Daniel Vettori insists it is England’s winning habit rather than their ‘Bazball’ style that has earned the respect of Australia ahead of this summer’s Ashes.

Brendon McCullum and Ben Stokes have inspired a thrilling revival of England’s Test team, winning 10 out of 12 matches by adopting an aggressive, never say die mindset.

Australia are aiming to retain the Ashes when the series opens at Edgbaston on June 16 and assistant coach Vettori, who played alongside McCullum for New Zealand, insists the hosts’ results trump how they were achieved.

“Irrespective of the style they’re using, they’re playing winning cricket and that’s the thing everyone gravitates towards,” Vettori said.

“The fact that they’ve played so well over an extended period of time has been what’s so impressive.

“Brendon wouldn’t want to make the attention about himself, but he’s got this moniker going for him now. That’s Brendan since he came out of the womb – he’s pretty positive.

“England keep coming and so you’ve got to anticipate that and not back off.”

England are hoping that Stokes is able to play a full part in the five-Test series following his struggle with a knee injury that has required a cortisone injection.

However, there is uncertainty over what contribution their talisman will be able to make with the ball after he was unable to bowl in his side’s most recent outing against New Zealand in February.

“We’re preparing for him to be his normal self. He’s one of the top all-rounders in world cricket. We know how much he brings to the table as an all-rounder,” Vettori said.

“It’s like Cameron Green for us, offering that balance and ability to come in and be an aggressive weapon along with his batting, which has been exceptional.

“Every team wants their all-rounder up and running because it makes things run so smoothly.”

While England warm-up for the Ashes with a one-off Test against Ireland, Australia face India in the ICC World Test Championship final at the Oval.

Vettori is undecided over who has the better build-up.

“Ask me again on the back of these four days of prep!” the former spin bowler said.

“But there’s a real excitement that we have the ability to play one of the best teams in the world in such a crucial game and that should set us up well for the Ashes.

“It’s six Tests of high intensity and you couldn’t ask for anything more.”

England’s Test summer failed to get off to the best start after the team bus was delayed on its way to Lord’s by Just Stop Oil protesters.

Jonny Bairstow posted a photo on his Instagram story on Thursday morning, which showed Just Stop Oil protesters and police officers in front of their team coach in the middle of a road in Kensington by England’s hotel.

Bairstow’s caption read: “If we’re a bit late, it’s not our fault.”

However,  there was no delay to proceedings on the opening day of the one-off Test against Ireland with the four-day contest getting under way at 11am as planned – despite the five-minute delay to the team’s journey.

Just Stop Oil protesters were able to disrupt the Gallagher Premiership final at Twickenham between Saracens and Sale last weekend.

Two men wearing Just Stop Oil T-shirts invaded the pitch midway through the first half and threw orange paint powder onto the field before being removed by security staff.

A similar incident occurred at the Crucible during the World Snooker Championship in April.

Robert Milkins’ match against Joe Perry was interrupted when a man wearing a Just Stop Oil T-shirt jumped on to table one and tipped orange powder over the cloth.

Amid the threat of potential protests this week at Lord’s, the MCC said it has enhanced its security measures in some areas for this match.

“We look forward to welcoming players and spectators to the first international Test match of the summer at Lord’s. Their safety and security is the highest priority for MCC,” an MCC spokesperson told the PA news agency.

“We have a number of ground regulations that help us achieve that; including not entering the playing area or demonstrating.

“Whilst protests would disrupt the game, we have a number of security measures in place, some visible, some less so to deter this. In some areas we have enhanced those existing provisions ahead of this summer’s schedule.”

England’s Test summer failed to get off to the best start after the team bus was delayed by five minutes on its way to Lord’s by Just Stop Oil protesters.

Jonny Bairstow posted a photo on his Instagram story on Thursday morning, which showed Just Stop Oil protesters and police officers in front of their team coach in the middle of a road in Kensington by England’s hotel.

Bairstow’s caption read: “If we’re a bit late, it’s not our fault.”

However, there was no delay to proceedings on the opening day of the one-off Test against Ireland with the four-day contest getting under way at 11am as planned.

Just Stop Oil protesters were able to disrupt the Gallagher Premiership final at Twickenham between Saracens and Sale last weekend.

Two men wearing Just Stop Oil T-shirts invaded the pitch midway through the first half and threw orange paint powder onto the field before being removed by security staff.

A similar incident occurred at the Crucible during the World Snooker Championship in April.

Robert Milkins’ match against Joe Perry was interrupted when a man wearing a Just Stop Oil T-shirt jumped on to table one and tipped orange powder over the cloth.

Amid the threat of potential protests this week at Lord’s, the MCC said it has enhanced its security measures in some areas for this match.

“We look forward to welcoming players and spectators to the first international Test match of the summer at Lord’s. Their safety and security is the highest priority for MCC,” an MCC spokesperson told the PA news agency.

“We have a number of ground regulations that help us achieve that; including not entering the playing area or demonstrating.

“Whilst protests would disrupt the game, we have a number of security measures in place, some visible, some less so to deter this. In some areas we have enhanced those existing provisions ahead of this summer’s schedule.”

England’s Test summer failed to get off to the best start after the team bus was held up on its way to Lord’s by Just Stop Oil protesters.

Jonny Bairstow posted a photo on his Instagram story on Thursday morning, which showed Just Stop Oil protesters and police officers in front of their team coach in the middle of the road.

Bairstow’s caption read: “If we’re a bit late it’s not our fault.” Day one of the one-off Test between England and Ireland is set to start at 11am.

Just Stop Oil protesters were also able to disrupt the Gallagher Premiership final at Twickenham between Saracens and Sale last weekend.

Two men wearing Just Stop Oil T-shirts invaded the pitch midway through the first half and threw orange paint power onto the field before being removed by security staff.

A similar incident occurred at the Crucible during the World Snooker Championships in April.

Robert Milkins’ match against Joe Perry was interrupted when a man wearing a Just Stop Oil T-shirt jumped on to table one and tipped orange powder over the cloth.

England begin their red-ball campaign with a four-day Test against Ireland at Lord’s before the Ashes gets under way on June 16.

Jimmy Adams is out as Cricket West Indies Director of Cricket and the regional government body has commenced a search for his replacement.

Cricket West Indies (CWI) announced on Wednesday that the recruitment process for a new director of cricket has begun as the role will become vacant at the end of June when Jimmy Adams' contract expires.

Adams, who played 54 Tests and 127 One-Day Internationals for the West Indies, has been in the role since January 2017.

“We are extremely grateful for the leadership and contribution that Jimmy has made over the past six and half years," said CWI CEO Johnny Grave.

"He has overhauled our High-Performance structure, especially with respect to Coach Education and Development, Sport Science and Medicine and most recently with the launch of our Academy based at the Coolidge Cricket Ground (CCG) in Antigua. I have no doubt that Jimmy will continue to contribute to the game, particularly West Indies Cricket.”

Meanwhile, CWI President Dr. Kishore Shallow, lauded Adams for his contribution to West Indies Cricket.

“Jimmy has always served West Indies Cricket with passion and distinction. His composed demeanor and professionalism have inspired many positive outcomes over the years," said Dr Shallow.

"One of his legacies would definitely be the commencement of a coaching revolution in the region. On behalf of the CWI Board, we wish him a favorable future path.”

 Adams said serving West Indies cricket has been a privilege.

“It's been an honour to have been involved in the ongoing evolution of CWI," he said.

"I have had the privilege of working with some amazing people across the organization and am grateful for all the support they gave me over the past six plus years. I wish everyone all the best going forward especially in light of the various challenges that exist both regionally and globally.”

Under the leadership of Jimmy Adams as Director of Cricket, CWI started a Coach Education & Development Department that created a new set of CWI coaching courses and accreditations that has seen over 1,000 new certified coaches in the region; launched the Men’s Academy, based at CCG in Antigua; started an U19 Regional Women’s Tournament, Women’s ‘A’ Team series and the Women’s Caribbean Premier League and established a Sports Science & Medicine Department to drive a fitness culture.

He also implemented a new Selection Policy that included appointing separate Women’s and Youth Selection Panels as well as established the High-Performance Coaching Group.

The St Kitts & Nevis Patriots have retained d big hitters Evin Lewis and Andre Fletcher for their 2023 campaign in the Republic Bank Caribbean Premier League (CPL).

The Patriots will also retain middle-order batsman Sherfane Rutherford, all-rounder Dominic Drakes as well as fast bowler Sheldon Cottrell and wicketkeeper/batsman Joshua da Silva. The Patriots have also brought in Oshane Thomas who was transferred from the Barbados Royals.

The tournament gets underway on 16 August with the final taking place on 24 September. There will be matches in Barbados, Guyana, St Kitts & Nevis, Saint Lucia and Trinidad & Tobago.

The overseas players and draft picks will be announced during the Republic Bank CPL draft show which will be broadcast at the end of June.

West Indies ‘A’ took full control of the third and final unofficial Test against Bangladesh ‘A’ on Wednesday on the back of strong performances from their batsmen and bowlers at the Syhlet International Stadium.

Carrying on from their overnight score of 320-6, the West Indies eventually scored 445 all out. Their bowlers then combined to reduce the hosts to 157-7, still 288 runs behind with only three wickets remaining.

The hero of the day was Kevin Sinclair, who scored 60, the sixth half-century of the innings to help push the West Indies ‘A’ past 400 runs. Sinclair was 22 not overnight in a 60-run partnership with Raymon Reifer, who failed to add to his overnight score of 56.

With only two runs added to the team score, Reifer was out caught behind off in the second over the day to Shoriful Islam but Sinclair and Akeem Jordan put on 87 for the eighth wicket that took the score to 407 when Jordan, who has been showing off his potential with the bat, was dismissed by Mahmudul Hasan Joy for 47.

Ten runs later, Sinclair’s stay at the crease ended when he was trapped lbw by Nasum Ahmed, who also snared Veerasammy Permaul in similar fashion for 18 to end the lower-order resistance. Anderson Phillip was not out on 13 when the innings ended after 116.2 overs

Nasum Ahmed finished with figures of 5-133 from 38.2 overs. Shoriful Islam took 2-80 and Musfik Hasan 2-59 in support.

Bangladesh ‘A’ struggled with the bat as Sinclair took 2-51 and Phillip 2-36 ripped through the line-up that offered little resistance.

Captain Saif Hasan was the top scorer with 32 and opener Zakir Hasan was run out for 29. Nurul Hasan contributed 28 but the hosts were unable to establish any significant partnerships while trying to cope with the visitors’ attack.

Atr stumps, Tanzim Hasan Sakib was not out on 17 with Nasum Ahmed at the other end on seven.

Power hitter Shimron Hetmyer and the stylish Shai Hope are among the nine players retained by the Guyana Amazon Warriors for the upcoming Republic Bank Caribbean Premier League season set to get underway in August.

Along with Hetmyer and Hope, the Amazon Warriors have also announced the retention of fast bowler Odean Smith, all-rounders Romario Shepherd an Keemo Paul, spinner Gudakesh Motie as well as Chandrapaul Hemraj, Matthew Nandu and Junior Sinclair.

The overseas players and draft picks will be announced during the Republic Bank CPL draft show which will be broadcast at the end of June.

The tournament gets underway on 16 August with the final taking place on 24 September. There will be matches in Barbados, Guyana, St Kitts & Nevis, Saint Lucia and Trinidad & Tobago.

England captain Ben Stokes has no concerns over his ability to bowl in this summer’s Ashes.

Stokes’ long-standing left knee issue caused him problems during February’s tour of New Zealand and his recent time at the Indian Premier League proved fruitless.

All-rounder Stokes played only twice for Chennai Super Kings and sent down just one over for 18 runs during his IPL stint but ahead of this week’s one-off Test with Ireland at Lord’s, the 31-year-old is confident he can have an impact when the Ashes begins on June 16.

He said: “Yeah, look the knee is in much better place than it was in Wellington.

“I’ve been over in India for the IPL and these last eight or nine weeks I know I have got myself in a position where I can’t say I regret anything.

“I have got myself into a place where I feel like in a 2019, 2020 space in terms of my own body and fitness. I have definitely given myself the best opportunity (to bowl this summer).

“We know what it is (the problem) and now it is about managing it.”

Ireland all-rounder Curtis Campher will see his dream become a reality when he steps out to play in this week’s Test at Lord’s.

Campher has already played three Tests for Ireland this year and made a century against Sri Lanka in April but is desperate to feature at the ‘Home of Cricket’ against England.

The prestige of the four-day fixture has been scrutinised since it was revealed the visitors’ star bowler Josh Little would not be involved, while Cricket Ireland’s high performance director Richard Holdsworth labelled the second red-ball meeting between the nations as “a special occasion” but not a “pinnacle event”.

But Campher told the PA news agency: “Anyone that has played cricket would be lying if they say they don’t dream of playing at Lord’s.

“It will be an amazing thing to play England in a Test match at Lord’s. It is massive and a real historic venue, with all the history behind it.

“To be a part of that is really, really cool and just to be a Test-playing cricketer is a massive thing. To be part of history, no-one can take that away from you.

“Everyone is buzzing for the week of Test cricket.”

The journey of Johannesburg-born Campher to this point has been recounted many times with an exchange with his now agent Niall O’Brien during a match in 2018 able to speed up the process of the 24-year-old going on to represent Ireland.

Campher always held an Irish passport, due to his grandmother being from Northern Ireland, and had ambitions to play club cricket during the South African winter months once his studies stopped.

Yet in the summer of 2020, at the height of the coronavirus pandemic, he found himself fast-tracked into the senior international set-up and handed his debut in an ODI series against England.

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“I was happy to just carry water but before I knew it I was playing the first game versus England, so it has been an amazing three years,” Campher said.

Back-to-back fifties in losing causes provided a glimpse of what was to come from the all-rounder before Ireland ended the three-match series with victory over the world champions after Kevin O’Brien hit the winning runs.

O’Brien has since followed brother Niall into retirement after a stellar career and, while Campher is too modest to acknowledge any type of passing of the baton, he has taken plenty from one of Ireland’s all-time greats.

Campher added: “It was nice to rub shoulders with Kev for the few years I played with him.

“He has done so much for Irish cricket, the contributions he made were immense so if you can have half the career Kev has had, you’ve had a flipping good career!

“Kev is very calm, very relaxed and tries to simplify things. I have tried to take on that approach myself.”

O’Brien memorably crunched a remarkable 63-ball innings of 113 against England at the 2011 World Cup that propelled Ireland to a first ever victory over their rivals.

While Campher may be in the infancy of his own international career, he already appears to have the same panache as the previous all-rounder in the XI.

After arriving on the scene with scores of 59 not out and 68 against England, he has continued to save his best for the big occasion with four wickets in four balls during a T20 clash with Netherlands at the 2021 World Cup and last year’s tournament saw an unbeaten 72 down Scotland.

Campher also followed in O’Brien’s footsteps by scoring a Test century for Ireland earlier this year and knows what any notable achievements this week would mean.

“England are a class act but if I can contribute and help the team in any way, that would be a bonus,” he said.

“Everyone does look to want to be up on the honours board but that is too far to look.

“If it does happen, it happens, but if not life will still go on.”

A key feature of Campher’s strong form over the past 12 months has been enjoyment being at the forefront of his mind, but that should not take away from his determination.

So high is the belief of the Munster Reds player that he had privately targeted reaching three figures for Ireland long before he reached the milestone.

He is also acutely aware he has won two of his four meetings with England, most recently at the T20 World Cup in October.

Campher said: “A few of the lads have joked about how, since some of us made our debuts (in 2020), we’ve played England four times and won two and lost two.

“They said if we can keep that record going, we’ll have a pretty good careers!”

Chris Woakes pointed to misfortune suffered by the injured pair Jofra Archer and Olly Stone as one of the reasons he finds himself in contention for Ashes selection this summer.

Archer was ruled out of contention with a stress fracture to his elbow sustained playing for Mumbai Indians in the Indian Premier League, while Stone will miss at least the first Test with a hamstring injury.

Woakes had himself missed over a year of first-class cricket following knee surgery before returning to play for Warwickshire earlier in the summer.

The 34-year-old has been recalled to Brendon McCullum’s England side for the match against Ireland at Lord’s which begins on Thursday – his first home Test appearance since he featured against the West Indies in June 2020.

The seamer took six for 17 on his last appearance against Ireland back in 2019 and is hoping another strong performance could kick open the door to Ashes selection.

“If you’d have asked me a month or two ago whether I’d even be in this squad – probably not, really,” said Woakes. “Looking at the pool of fast bowlers that were available, you stick Jofra (Archer) and Olly Stone in the mix as well, I might not have been. Their misfortune means I’m here.

“But that’s the game, isn’t it? Injuries happen and things do change quite quickly. All part of my prep this summer was to miss IPL, play some county cricket for Warwickshire and try and get myself in the space where, if I was to get the call, then I’m ready. Thankfully it’s worked out nicely for myself.”

Lord’s has been a fruitful ground for Woakes, playing host to his only Test hundred against India in 2018 as well as being the setting for three five-wicket hauls.

After a year in injury limbo, he spoke of his gratitude at being having given the chance to put himself in contention for the Ashes – the first Test of which is at Edgbaston in June – and an opportunity to banish memories of the 4-0 series defeat in Australia during the 2020-21 edition.

“I suppose (it has been limbo) in a way,” he said. “Last summer wasn’t nice, because I tried to put the surgery off. I didn’t want to have it until it was a last resort, but it did get to the stage where it was last resort.

“It wasn’t serious surgery, but you never know how you’re going to come back from it, especially as it was the front knee, bowler’s knee.

“Thankfully, the surgeon did a good job, I’ve healed nicely and it’s pretty good. It was a tough summer but the winter well from a white-ball perspective so I’m looking forward to this summer.

“Without a shadow of a doubt (there were dark moments), you go through days when you’re injured and you see cricket going on, not just England, any cricket with Warwickshire as well, you want to be a part of that.

“I think the older you get and the more cricket you miss, you think it’s an opportunity missed. To miss a whole summer was not ideal, and there are moments where you do get a bit dark, not overly dark.

“But it’s that feeling that you’re losing valuable time to be playing cricket, making memories and making the most of your career.”

Half-centuries from Tagenarine Chanderpaul, Joshua Da Silva and Raymon Reifer have put the West Indies “A” in a solid position after the first day of their third four-day “Test” match against Bangladesh “A” at the Sylhet International Cricket Stadium on Monday.

The tourists currently find themselves 320-6 off 82 overs after winning the toss and batting first.

Chanderpaul led the way with 83 off 160 balls, hitting nine fours and a six in the process. The 26-year-old also made 83 in the first game.

Da Silva, the Captain, was much more proactive for his 82. His knock came off 94 balls and included 12 fours and a pair of sixes.

Alick Athanaze also chipped in with a well-compiled 59 off 66 balls including seven fours and two sixes while Reifer ended the day 56* off 90 balls including six fours and a six. Kevin Sinclair (22*) is currently partnering Reifer in the middle.

Nasum Ahmed has, so far, taken 3-92 off 26 overs for the hosts while Musfik Hasan has taken 2-50 in 13 overs.

West Indies “A” lead the series 1-0.