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Success on pre-season tours has been the precursor to good performances during the season for many counties in previous years, so Nottinghamshire can take heart from winning the Barbados T20 cup.Six counties took up the opportunity of some warm-weather practise ahead of the new season and Notts thrashed Derbyshire in the final at Kensington Oval to add this trophy to the T20 competition won in Dubai prior to the 2011 season.They were only chasing 115 after Derbyshire’s top order failed with the bat. Early wickets left them 57 for 6 on a pitch that had been used for the Zimbabwe Test match earlier in the week. Tony Palladino and Richard Johnson rescued the innings into double figures.But it was a paltry target as Michael Lumb and Alex Hales took 54 from the Powerplay – 18 from Mark Footitt’s first over. Lumb holed out in the deep for 35 and Hales fell caught at midwicket for 33. James Taylor launched three sixes in his 32 before Steven Mullaney applied the coup de grace, hitting the winning runs into the pavilion.Notts had overcome Yorkshire in the semi-final while Derbyshire had squeezed past Warwickshire by two runs. Hampshire beat Northamptonshire in the plate final.But Notts can take most from the tour and Mick Newell, their director of cricket, said they had achieved a lot from the trip. “Sam Wood and Graeme White have had a couple of excellent days, in conditions suited to spin bowling,” he told “Steven Mullaney’s chipped in with the bat but over the course of the two days everybody’s contributed.”We haven’t given a lot of runs away in any of the three matches, the wickets have been conducive to spin but we have also batted nicely when up against quicker bowling.”We have Samit Patel and David Hussey to come into our T20 side as well and we’ll need lots of different players over the ten qualifying matches but certainly Sam Wood has shown what he can do here.”

Batting worries nag Royal Challengers

Royal Challengers opener Mayank Agarwal is likely to miss the rest of the IPL campaign after he broke his finger while fielding in the match against Super Kings. Attempting to save a four from Ravindra Jadeja in the 16th over, Agarwal threw himself full stretch to his right to save two runs, but in the process dug his little finger on the right hand into the ground. Jennings confirmed Agarwal’s broken finger, which was operated on Sunday, and has been advised at least four weeks rest.
According to Jennings, the franchise was keenly awaiting the return of Indian top-order batsman Cheteshwar Pujara, who has missed the first two weeks of the IPL, recovering from a finger injury he picked up during the final Test of the Australia series in Delhi last month. Pujara’s fitness will be assessed on Monday and a call will be taken by the team management soon.

Ray Jennings, the coach of Royal Challengers Bangalore, feels that the continuing absence of Indian fast bowler Zaheer Khan with a side strain has affected the team, especially during pressure situations like the last-ball defeat against Chennai Super Kings last Saturday. Zaheer, he said, suffered a strain on the left side during the team’s first training session in the week leading into the IPL and hasn’t bowled since.”You are always going to miss any guy with that amount of experience because he has done it so often and he can actually handle the pressure,” Jennings said. “So, of course, you do miss players like that, any team would.” Zaheer was the second-highest wicket-taker for Royal Challengers last season. Zaheer’s presence was missed on last Saturday’s encounter against Chennai Super Kings, where RP Singh bowled an underwhelming over to hand Super Kings a last-ball victory. Against Sunrisers Hyderabad, another misfiring last over from Royal Challengers pushed the game into a Super Over, with Sunrisers’ Cameron White stealing the show from there.Zaheer has been struggling with injuries in the last few months and had come to the IPL fresh off a calf injury that forced him to miss the knockout matches for Mumbai in the Ranji Trophy, and subsequently the Irani Trophy. Not only was his fitness an issue but a loss of form was a big factor behind the Indian selectors losing confidence in him.Zaheer last played for India during the third Test of the home series in England. He was ignored for the ODI leg of the England series and then dropped from the four-Test Australia series. He did not feature in the 30-strong Indian probables shortlisted for the Champions Trophy, which is to be held in England in June.However, Jennings maintained that the franchise had enough faith in the left-arm seamer who, he said, was working hard to regain complete fitness. “Zak (Zaheer) has a lot to offer, and is always around the players helping them as well. He has worked every day in the gym, and has the trainer on his case to make sure he is 100% fit, and [that] the recovery from the injury happens soon.”This is Zaheer’s second stint at the Royal Challengers. His first came in 2008; he was traded to Mumbai Indians for the 2009 season and was bought at the 2011 auction by the Royal Challengers. In his 42 matches, he has picked up 44 wickets at an economy rate of 7.85 and is the third-best bowler for the franchise in the IPL.Asked if there was a possibility of Zaheer’s returning soon, Jennings felt the second half of the tournament was a fair bet. “There is no doubt. [The] back nine will be the business end of the tournament where we would need his experience, and hopefully he will be ready. At this stage we want him getting into the act of doing some bowling and that is why the fitness aspect is important, because if you let that go then he is not going to be strong enough to bowl. Once the injury is rectified, it is going to take one or two nets sessions to make sure he is bowling fit,” Jennings said.At the auction this year, Royal Challengers picked seven new players, out of which four were specialist fast bowlers, swelling the quick bowling numbers in the squad to ten. Asked to explain the reason behind having so many fast bowlers in the squad, Jennings said the plan was really to have multiple options.”My feeling in the IPL is to have a limited amount of batsmen because of the lesser opportunities available to them, so you need to settle the guys down. As far as the bowlers go, Virat, the boss (Vijay Mallya) and myself felt that having a larger group is beneficial as bowlers tend to have injuries.” Citing an example, Jennings used left-arm Indian fast bowler RP Singh, who was coming into the tournament having recuperated from a long injury lay-off which had kept him out of the domestic season after the IPL last year, and the franchise did not want to take a chance in case RP was injured early on. “We just felt that if we were going have an extra player, then we should have one in the bowling department.”

ScorecardHalf-centuries by Matt Pardoe and Thilan Samaraweera took Worcestershire to 198 for 3 on a rain-shortened first day in their Division Two clash with Leicestershire at New Road.Pardoe shared in partnerships of 78 with Moeen Ali and 69 with Samaraweera as Worcestershire finally started their home programme a month late because of on-going building work at the ground.A five-storey executive block and a 120-bedroom hotel created a new backdrop in the riverside corner as Pardoe, determined and disciplined for close to four hours, reached 50 in the championship for the first time in 20 innings.Given an opportunity to pin down an opening spot following the departure of Australian Phil Hughes, the young left hander kept his side on a steady footing after Daryl Mitchell’s edge to third slip in Ollie Freckingham’s third over.Relegated from Division One last September, Worcestershire have yet to find their feet at the lower level after a draw with Lancashire and defeats by Glamorgan and Hampshire in three away matches.Fellow strugglers Leicestershire, another side without a win, were again without three front-line seamers, including former captain Matthew Hoggard, when Ramnaresh Sarwan lost the toss.The stand-in bowlers kept things reasonably tight and Freckingham might have had a second success when Moeen got off the mark with a streaky boundary in his first Championship innings since signing a five-year extension to his contract.Unusually for New Road, the pitch encouraged Leicestershire to try Jigar Naik’s off-breaks only 40 minutes into the first morning and before lunch they also gave a couple of overs to a second spinner in Josh Cobb. There was even a hint of turn as Naik conceded only one run in three overs but the runs began to flow with leg-side sixes for Moeen and Pardoe.Moeen also hit seven fours in making 48 from 77 balls before a misplaced square drive off Rob Taylor found Michael Thornely at point. The unflustered Pardoe maintained a one-run-an-over tempo deep into the afternoon before he was bowled by Naik as he propped forward after making 59 from 174 balls.By then Samaraweera was showing glimpses of his Test quality after an early incident in which he stood his ground when it appeared he had turned a catch to short leg off left-arm seamer Taylor.However, the ball only found its way into Matt Boyce’s hands after bouncing up from his body and then deflecting from the grille on his helmet. After consultation between the umpires, the Sri Lankan was given not out and went on to complete his second fifty for the county. He was unbeaten on 52 when a second stoppage for rain ended the day with only 13 balls bowled after tea.

ScorecardShivnarine Chanderpaul provided a solid foundation for Derbyshire•Getty Images

Essex came crashing down to earth after a run of four consecutive YorkshireBank 40 victories as Derbyshire romped to a 63-run win with 41 balls to spare ina record-breaking Group B match at Leek.Derbyshire’s total of 321 for 5 was their best ever in a 40-over game and wasthe highest score Essex had conceded in one-day cricket.Shivnarine Chanderpaul made an unbeaten 85, Wes Durston hammered 71 from 46balls and 21-year-old Staffordshire-born allrounder Alex Hughes made his firstsenior half century with 59 not out from 36 balls.Mark Pettini replied with 88 from 68 balls but Essex came up well short whenthey were bowled out for 258 in a game which contained 20 sixes with Hughestaking 3 for 56.Derbyshire’s batsmen turned up the heat in the Staffordshire sunshine from thestart with Chesney Hughes hitting the opening three deliveries from TimPhillips for four. Although David Masters trapped him lbw in the third over, Durston drove theseamer for two sixes and pulled Sajid Mahmood for another six as he raced to a34 ball fifty which also contained seven fours.The 100 came up in the 12th over and, although Durston was bowled trying topull Mahmood, Chanderpaul and Wayne Madsen kept Derbyshire on course for a bigtotal by adding 78 in 10 overs.Chanderpaul straight drove Phillips for six and pulled a Tom Westley full tossfor another and although Madsen got a leading edge to mid-off after a run a ball33, Hughes launched an explosive assault on the Essex bowlers in the last 10overs.He pulled and drove Masters for two sixes and two fours in an over which cost21 on his way to a 32 ball half-century and he ended the innings by drivingGraham Napier over long-off and into the trees for his third six.It left Napier with bruised figures of 1 for 76 from eight overs, his mostexpensive for Essex, five days after his 7 for 32 and four wickets in fourballs against Surrey.It was an impressive display of controlled hitting from Hughes whose stand withChanderpaul was worth 102 in 10 overs and left Essex chasing a formidable target,even on a small ground. Hamish Rutherford launched the chase by driving Durston for six but the New Zealand opener was caught behind trying to cut Mark Turner and Westley chipped the paceman to midwicket in his next over.Pettini was dropped by wicketkeeper Richard Johnson on 18 and he and OwaisShah took the score to 101 before Tim Groenewald had Shah lbw for 24 in the 15thover.He struck an even bigger blow in his next over when Ryan ten Doeschate playedacross the line and was lbw for 6 and when James Foster was caught a long leg,Essex were 130 for 5.Napier threatened to turn the game with four sixes in his 16 ball 38 until hecarved Mark Footitt to mid-off and after, Pettini drove Alex Hughes to mid-off as well,it was left to Phillips to strike some defiant blows before Hughes rounded off amemorable day by claiming the last wicket.

ScorecardPaul Franks got the key wicket of Rory Burns on the final day•Getty Images

Five matches, no wins, two defeats: Surrey’s season already has the feel of an expensive failure, a tale of over-inflated expectations. Chris Adams, their team director, made reference to the impact of the season-ending injury to their captain, Graeme Smith, but made it clear, too, that it was time his squad began to deliver performances as a team in four-day cricket, rather than simply showing snapshots of their talent in disconnected moments.Nottinghamshire have been slow starters themselves in the Championship but, in conditions that were suited to the strengths of their bowling attack – even one shorn of the mesmeric skills of Andre Adams – they had just enough weaponry to make sure that home advantage paid.”It is a disappointing outcome because I think this time was the first time our bowlers as a unit have nailed it all season in a four-day game,” Chris Adams said.”It was a bowler friendly wicket, with good grass coverage and moisture content, good pace and carry and with the overhead conditions there has been plenty of action, if not the weight of runs you would like. But you expect that at Nottinghamshire and we have no complaints – we simply did not perform as well as the opposition.”Yes, we did start the season with high expectations, but I was a player for 22 years and have been here five and in every one of those 27 seasons there have been high expectations of Surrey. This group – the players, the coaches and myself – share the same ambitions.”But we are only five games in and, with the points system as it is, if you can follow two defeats with two wins you are right back in there. We felt we were – and are – a genuinely competitive side in all competitions.”It has been a difficult couple of weeks, with Graeme going home, needing to regroup and with Gareth Batty taking on the captaincy. But if we can win our 40-over game tomorrow we will be top of our group and with a week then to address what we need to do in four-day cricket – not to just have fleeting moments in a game where we show what we are capable of but to put together a performance over four days, with bat and ball, that will get us over the line.”Nottinghamshire were always ahead in the contest and had set Surrey a daunting target of 259 to win. From 72 for 3 overnight they needed to reach the haven of lunch on the final day with no more than one or two more wickets lost to stand a realistic chance. As it was, they were eight down after Harry Gurney, the left-armer who now looks an outstanding prospect in four-day cricket, had effectively finished them off by dismissing Gary Wilson, Batty and Steven Davies in quick succession.Before that, the two vital breakthroughs had been supplied by Paul Franks, 34 and in his 18th season with the county, whose appearance in this match had been something a personal triumph after beginning the season with the double-edged honour of being second XI captain.Franks knew his opportunities this season would be limited but his form has been good enough to warrant selection as Adams continues to rehabilitate after a calf injury and his performance with the ball in the first innings persuaded stand-in captain James Taylor to turn to him rather than Ajmal Shahzad as first change.Shahzad seems short of confidence – in Franks’ words “still learning how to bowl at Trent Bridge”. Franks, on the other hand, knows conditions here as well as anyone and it was he who shot the biggest hole in Surrey’s hopes when Rory Burns, who had played with style and assurance in reaching 53 from 87 balls, was caught behind. Franks had been angling the ball into the opener’s pads but then tempted him with some width and an expansive drive proved his downfall.”It was good to be back in the side, absolutely,” Franks said. “I’ve been here a long time and I’ve had to fight all the way through that time and I was made aware of the fact that I would have to fight for my place this year.”But it was never the case, as has been written, that the club told me I could leave, it was more the other way around, of me wanting to know where I stood and what my options were.”I didn’t expect to be told I would play in every game but after such a long time in one place I just needed a bit of assurance that I was still wanted. The club were very honest with me and I feel happy with where I am, I’m just enjoying taking a bit of pressure off myself and savouring days like today.”

ScorecardKevin Pietersen looked fluent before losing his patience against Tom Craddock•Getty Images

A few weeks ago, when Lancashire bowled Essex out for 20, there were those within the England set-up who privately expressed concerns about the value of this game as preparation for the Ashes.Those concerns were understandable. Despite a talented squad, Essex are currently placed in the middle of Division Two of the County Championship and, with a view to their county commitments, took the opportunity to rest three or four first-choice players for this match. Would they put up any sort of resistance?Yet a second-string attack who had, before this game, claimed only eight first-class* wickets between them this season, dismissed England’s top seven for only 212. An unbroken eighth-wicket stand of 116 between Tim Bresnan and Graeme Swann spared any acute embarrassment, but it was a day that suggested the surfeit of limited-overs cricket England have experienced of late has not been ideal preparation for the Ashes.Some caution is required before anyone concludes that England’s Ashes plans are in chaos. Complacency was certainly a contributory factor in one or two dismissals – notably Kevin Pietersen’s – and this game was designed precisely with the aim of easing England’s players back into the disciplines required for first-class cricket. It would be wrong to read too much into it.It was an inglorious performance from England’s top-order, though. Inserted by prior agreement and on a blameless pitch – Ravi Bopara, the Essex captain, later admitted he would have liked to bat but was happy to agree to England’s request – each one of the top seven made a start but failed to convert it into a meaningful contribution due to some looses strokes and a lack of concentration.There were some encouraging performances from Essex players, too. Tymal Mills, a 20-year-old left-arm fast bowler who played at the request of the England management, generated speeds in excess of 94 mph according to the television speed gun, while Tom Craddock, a 23-year-old leg-spinner who went into this game without a first-class wicket this season, claimed three in his first nine overs and demonstrated good composure in the face of Pietersen’s aggression.Pietersen had settled in against some woeful bowling. Fed a diet of full-tosses and long-hops, he eased three of his first four deliveries to the boundary and demonstrated his intent against Craddock’s legspin by driving the first delivery he faced from him over mid-on for four. He was dropped moments later attempting a repeat, Craddock unable to cling on to a sharp return chance, but then tried the shot once more and was well held by a relieved bowler. Pietersen’s dismissal, careless as it was, will irritate some but, in the grand scheme of things, it is more important to note that he looked fit and in fine form. He is likely to treat Ashes matches with far greater respect.If that wicket owed something to Pietersen’s impatience, the wicket of Matt Prior owed more to the traditional skills of a legbreak bowler. Drawing Prior into pushing at one outside off stump, Craddock took the outside edge with a delivery that turned appreciably on its way to the keeper.In between times, Ian Bell was the victim of a wonderful piece of fielding. Jaik Mickleburgh, at short leg, anticipated Bell’s stroke as the batsman shaped to dab-sweep and, moving sharply to his left, clung on to the catch one-handed. Bell had struggled for fluency throughout, but it was a somewhat unfortunate ending.Earlier, Joe Root had endured a painful start to his career as an England opening batsman. Root, promoted in place of the discarded Nick Compton to allow room for Jonny Bairstow in the middle-order, got off the mark with an edge that bounced just short of the slip cordon and was later struck on the left knee by a delivery from Mills. Despite the ball appearing to hit Root on the pads, the batsman was clearly in some pain and, a few deliveries later, was drawn into poking at one from Saj Mahmood that he could have left outside off stump and edged a catch to second slip. Root spent much of the rest of the day with an ice pack on his knee, but an England team spokesman said that it was not considered a serious injury.Mills was impressive, if inconsistent, but faded as the warmth of the day began to tell. Working up a sharp pace, he dismissed the England captain (and Mills’ Essex team-mate) Alastair Cook with a delivery that was probably a bit too close for the cut shot the batsman attempted and Jonathan Trott, who was drawn into feeling for one angled across him that he could have left.By contrast Mahmood, once seen as an England fast bowler of great potential, barely passed 80 mph and conceded five an over in a performance littered with full-tosses. He did, however, compensate with the wicket of Root – just his second first-class victim of the season – and later saw Bairstow leave one that tailed in a fraction to hit the top of off stump.But if England were to take any positives from the day, it will have been a reminder of the strength of their lower-order batting. While Bresnan resisted stoutly, Swann counterattacked in characteristic style. He hit Craddock for four boundaries in five balls and later Mills for three in succession as the pair steered their side from any danger and both completed half-centuries shortly before the close.Essex rested their captain James Foster, swing bowler Reece Topley and allrounder Graham Napier from their full-strength side, while England left out James Anderson and Stuart Broad from their likely first Test line-up. While Broad has a minor shoulder injury, the result of diving to regain his ground in the dying moments of the Champions Trophy final, an England spokesman confirmed that he would have been fit to play had this been a Test. It was also confirmed that England have no plans to send any of their squad bowlers along with Compton to further enhance the Worcestershire side in their game against the Australians later this week.*This match had first-class status removed on the third day

ScorecardRavi Bopara takes the applause for his wonderful century•PA Photos

Ravi Bopara’s brilliant 115 not out from 94 balls, well supported by 65 from Greg Smith, swept Essex to a seven-wicket win against Surrey at The Oval which keeps them well in contention in Yorkshire Bank 40 Group B.Essex hunted down Surrey’s 223 for 7 with a comfortable 4.5 overs to spare for their fifth victory in the eighth of their 12 scheduled group matches.Bopara and Smith came together at 15 for 2, after Mark Pettini had been caught at cover for 5 and Hamish Rutherford athletically held at the wicket on 9, and their stand of 152 in 25.3 overs was a perfect demonstration of controlled acceleration.It was also an Essex third-wicket record against Surrey in all List A one-day cricket, and when Smith skied his 77th ball, from Jon Lewis, to deep mid-on in search of his fourth six it merely signalled a final onslaught from Bopara and Ryan ten Doeschate, who added a further 59 in a mere 4.3 overs.Bopara reached his 90-ball century during a 34th over, bowled by Zafar Ansari, that cost 21 runs. Both Bopara and ten Doeschate hit a six and a four in the over, and the end came soon afterwards. Ten Doeschate’s unbeaten 20 took him just 14 balls, with a six and three fours, while Bopara hit four sixes and 11 fours in a superb eighth List A hundred.Surrey, with virtually no chance of qualification for the semi-finals next month, opted to play a youthful team and rested key one-day players Jade Dernbach, Azhar Mahmood, Gareth Batty and Steven Davies ahead of Tuesday’s Friends Life t20 quarter-final against Somerset.One of two teenagers given a senior debut, 17-year-old batsman Dominic Sibley, had a game to remember for the wrong reason after being stretchered off with a badly cut knee early in the game. Sibley, still at Whitgift School, suffered a two inch deep gash as he dived for the crease to avoid being run out during the fourth over of Surrey’s innings and, after ompleting another single when partner Vikram Solanki called him for a run several balls later, he signalled to the dressing room that something was badly wrong.The game was held up for almost ten minutes as Sibley, who had made just two runs from seven balls faced, was first treated and then hoisted on to a stretcher. He left the ground immediately to go to hospital for stitches in the gaping wound. Sibley reportedly told the Surrey dressing room that he had no idea how the freak injury occurred, as his batting pads should have protected the knee.Solanki went on to top-score for Surrey with 86 from 95 balls, with ten fours, before being bowled swinging at Reece Topley at the start of the 35th over.Jason Roy fell for 4 just before the Sibley injury incident, caught at slip off Graham Napier, but Gary Wilson added 71 with Solanki and hit left arm paceman Tymal Mills for six in a 46-ball 31 before being held on the deep square leg boundary mis-hitting a pull at the same bowler.Ansari swung left arm spinner Tim Phillips over midwicket for six in a brisk 31 from 36 balls, and Rory Burns struck an unbeaten 39 from just 25 balls amid a clatter of late wickets in the closing overs, with a pulled six off Napier and three fours. Tom Curran, the 18-year-old son of former Zimbabwe allrounder Kevin Curran and Surrey’s other debutant, was run out second ball for one by Bopara’s direct hit from mid-off.

Michael Carberry has been rewarded for his superb form in the Friends Life t20 with a call-up to England’s T20 squad to play Australia on August 29 and 31. Carberry has only played once for England, a Test in Chittagong three years ago, but now has the chance to add to his solitary international appearance.Carberry, 32, was a major force in Hampshire reaching the Flt20 semi-finals with 502 runs at 55.77 and his tally has proved too significant to ignore with inclusion in England’s 13-man squad for the two-match T20 series.But there is no room in the squad for Northamptonshire seam bowler David Willey, who also enjoyed a fine Friends Life t20. Willey, 23, took 21 wickets at 13.33 including a hat-trick in the final, where he also scored the fastest half-century of the season.Steven Finn and Stuart Broad return to the T20 squad having both missed the series against New Zealand in June, which England lost 1-0, when they were left out to prepare for the Ashes. For Broad, it is a chance to reacquaint himself with the captaincy, six months away from the World Twenty20 in Bangladesh. Broad was last in charge of England in February when they won the series in New Zealand. Boyd Rankin, who made his debut in June, is again included but there is no place for Jonny Bairstow.”With only eight international T20 matches until the World T20 next April this series is an important chance for players to show they are capable of performing well at this level,” Geoff Miller, the national selector, said. “The two matches will also allow Ashley Giles and Stuart Broad an opportunity to look at a number of different options.”This squad combines players with plenty of international experience with players who have impressed at domestic level and who deserve an opportunity to test themselves in an international environment against what will no doubt be a strong Australian side.”Squad Stuart Broad (capt), Ravi Bopara, Danny Briggs, Jos Buttler, Michael Carberry, Jade Dernbach, Steven Finn, Alex Hales, Michael Lumb, Eoin Morgan, Boyd Rankin, Joe Root*, James Tredwell, Luke Wright*Joe Root was omitted from squad in original release, but later confirmed as in

Scorecard and ball-by-ball detailsKevin Pietersen’s innings gave England the momentum but bad light ended their chances of victory•PA Photos

Let’s have a game of cricket, said Michael Clarke. And so, as the Ashes series moved to an enthralling climax that few imagined possible, England and Australia did just that. Then, with England needing 21 runs from four overs with six wickets in hand, a capacity crowd in a state of high excitement and Clarke no longer fancying a game of cricket quite as much anymore, the umpires took out their light meters and they all walked off.Others can debate the whys and wherefores of ICC regulations. After the torpor of Friday and the washout of Saturday, the final day of the fifth Investec Test threw up a memorable day’s cricket. The umpires had no choice but to walk off under those regulations and Clarke, having manufactured a wonderful day’s cricket, had a right to expect that the regulations were respected. They were booed all the same.Jonathan Trott gave the immediate reaction to Clarke’s attempts to get off the field. “We’d be doing the same thing,” he said. “Australia declared to set up a game and all credit to them.”Kevin Pietersen, registering England’s fastest Ashes fifty along the way to 62 from 55 balls, will rightly gain the plaudits as England took on a chase of 227 in 44 overs on what for a fifth day remained a decent-enough surface. He swept them to within 64 runs of victory, with eight wickets and 10 overs remaining: a match to be won. In the end, England only faced six of them, but judging by the jubilation of England’s players at completing a victorious series they did not seem to care.Pietersen received a miniature silver bat on the third day to mark his achievement of becoming England’s highest run-scorer in all formats. But this was the sort of cricket he lives for. His shots were falling into gaps and the crowd was rapt with attention on a beautiful sunlit evening. Then he swung Ryan Harris to David Warner at long-on, perhaps his first, fatal slog.Trott fell in the next over but England’s chase continued in composed fashion in the hands of the Warwickshire pair Ian Bell and Chris Woakes. But it was not to be.With the series already decided, Clarke, an Australia captain who doubtless had his coach egging him on in the background, deserved immense credit for fashioning such an engrossing climax. No Australia captain had ever lost an Ashes series 4-0. Clarke risked just that. Statisticians be damned, was Clarke’s response: 3-0 or 4-0, who cares? Australia, who now have no victory in nine, need to learn how to win again.Only two captains had ever declared twice in a game and lost a Test – Garry Sobers for West Indies and Graeme Smith for South Africa. Hansie Cronje once declared and forfeited to lose against England but that one was corrupt.There were deeper reasons, of course, for Clarke’s declaration. Australia’s sense of feelgood after a 3-0 Ashes defeat is based upon their conviction that they are playing a more enterprising brand of cricket that will fully explore their potential and ultimately turn the tide in their favour, preferably in the return Ashes series this winter.

Andy Flower on Alastair Cook

“Cook’s strong captaincy is key. There is a lot more to leadership than funky fields, the players need to respect him. He has a conviction and sense of leadership that serves England well. We haven’t played perfect cricket, we never will, but we showed good qualities.”

Presented with a first-innings lead of 115 in early afternoon, and only 67 overs left in the game, they had only one option: attack. By tea, they had declared with a lead of 226. They made 111 at nearly five an over with six batsmen perishing. Clarke delivered news of the declaration to the England dressing room at a jaunty trot.Alastair Cook, his opposite number, approached the run chase as dutifully as he approach a trip to a maiden aunt. It was an obligation he knew he must fulfil, whether deep down he wanted to or not, and he did so uncomfortably until he edged across his crease to James Faulkner and was lbw.It was a timely departure. Pietersen came out to throaty cheers – the One Who Could. England still needed less than run a ball. Pietersen imposed himself against Faulkner. Recognising that the mood had changed, Australia switched into one-day mode.Trott also progressed nonchalantly, keeping the target within range. On 41, he survived the most idiotic review of the series – it was quite a feat, so credit where it is due – when Nathan Lyon turned one out of the footholds and Steve Smith held a short leg catch off the thigh. He fell for 59, lbw to Faulkner, the sort of player who makes a match attacking by his very presence.Those arriving at The Oval ahead of time on the final day had discovered groundstaff staring morbidly at covers and suggesting the match would not start much ahead of lunchtime. Read the experts and the emphasis was on England’s unremittingly conservative approach and a debate, in the context of a seemingly dead Test, about how they had won respect rather than admiration.What happened was a remarkable transformation. Faulkner’s jibe that refunds had been in order after England’s defensive approach on an interminable Friday had been well aimed, judging by the outcry it caused among England supporters on social media sites. The final throes of the Ashes series were suddenly so full of jollity that even Faulkner would not have demanded his money back. He took four of the last five wickets to fall to finish with slightly flattering figures of 4 for 51.Haddin, Australia’s wicketkeeper, also broke the world record for dismissals in a Test series when he claimed three more victims on the final day, the best of them a sparkling leg-side catch to dismiss Bell, England’s man of the series. Harris picked up the Australia award.Haddin’s 29 dismissals took him past Rod Marsh, who set the standard against England in 1982-83 and was on hand at The Oval to watch in his guise as an Australia selector.England passed the follow-on figure, and must have assumed in the process that they had removed Australia’s last, faint chance of victory, in the process, within 12 overs. Then Graeme Swann took 18 off an over of offspin from Lyon and the crowd began to sense that Sunday might turn out to be rather different from the two days that had passed before.Australia batted for 23 overs to reach 111 for 6. Their batting order – likened to a snow globe on ESPNcricinfo’s ball-by-ball service – was shaken once more: Warner and Shane Watson opening, the debutant Faulkner at No. 3, Chris Rogers held in reserve.Warner was brilliantly caught in his follow-through by James Anderson; Watson, who briefly laid into Anderson, succumbed at long-on and there was a first-baller for Haddin, courtesy of a waft at Stuart Broad.It all seemed an Ashes fantasy, as if we had died of boredom on Friday and gone to Ashes heaven. Still Australia drove forward. Faulkner produced a brief one-day melody until Matt Prior caught him down the leg side at full stretch off Broad; Smith toe-ended one to long-on and Broad, loving every minute of the challenge, spread-eagled Harris’ stumps for his fourth wicket.Of Simon Kerrigan, protected after his stage fright on the opening day, there was no sighting. But just to be there must have been something.

Sri Lanka Cricket has asked coach Graham Ford to reconsider his decision not to renew his contract with the team. The lure of a job with Surrey does not feature in Ford’s request to end his tenure as the coach, SLC heard in the meeting, in which it hoped to convince him to stay.”Surrey had approached him, but they haven’t offered him a job,” SLC CEO Ashley de Silva said. “What he cited to us was that he had family commitments, and that’s why he was thinking about leaving. We talked to him and gave him a few options regarding his family, and he will consider those with his family and get back to us next week.”Earlier in the week, Ford told the board he would finish with the team when his contract would expire in January, and he had been linked to the vacant coaching position at Surrey, which is expected to be filled over the English winter. Ford said in August that he had been informally approached by Surrey’s CEO regarding the position, but that he would not consider it until his contractual obligations with Sri Lanka were fulfilled.SLC has said it was pleased with the team’s progress under Ford, but if he abides by his decision to leave in January, Sri Lanka’s tour in the UAE will be his last assignment with Sri Lanka.Sri Lanka won their first Test series in almost three years, against Pakistan, and progressed to the final of the World Twenty20 in 2012 during Ford’s tenure, but were also whitewashed 3-0 in a Test series in Australia.