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Franchises could make players direct offers of multi-year contracts worth up to £300,000 per season as a result

Matt Roller01-Oct-2024The Hundred franchises could make players direct offers of multi-year contracts worth up to £300,000 per season if an overhaul to the tournament’s draft system being considered by the ECB is approved. The board is also considering lobbying the UK’s Home Office to permit each team in the Hundred to field a fourth overseas player in the XI, an increase from the current limit of three.The ECB started the process of selling stakes in each of the eight Hundred teams last month and has told prospective investors that total wage bills could increase by over 80% next year. Each team currently spends around £1.9 million per year on salaries across men’s and women’s players and coaches, which is projected to jump to more than £3.5m per year once deals are signed off.If the early-stage plans are approved and the sale process moves quickly, top salaries could climb from £125,000 to £300,000 in the men’s Hundred ahead of the 2025 season, and from £50,000 to over £100,000 in the women’s Hundred. The changes would put the Hundred’s total salary spend second to the IPL among men’s leagues, and second to the WPL among women’s leagues.Related

• Richard Gould: ECB 'unapologetic' about attracting top talent to Men's Hundred

• Richard Gould: Hundred equity sale can future-proof county cricket for '20-25 years'

• Top Men's Hundred salaries to rise by 60 percent in 2025

• ECB rules out 'IPL takeover' of the Hundred

• Disaffected county players discuss Hundred boycott as 'nuclear option' in NOCs row

The Hundred has consistently attracted the best overseas players in the women’s game, but not the men’s. This year, Shaheen Shah Afridi pulled out of his deal with Welsh Fire because Canada’s Global T20 was due to pay him at a more competitive rate, while Pat Cummins revealed he “hadn’t thought” of playing in the Hundred while he was at Major League Cricket.As a result, the ECB is considering allowing an updated recruitment model which would allow each franchise to make up to six direct overseas signings – three men’s and three women’s – on multi-year contracts, following the lead of several other leagues including the BBL, ILT20 and SA20. The existing draft system would remain but with increases in salary bands across the board, particularly at the top end.Vikram Banerjee, who is running the sale process at the ECB, said recently that the Hundred has “fallen behind” a number of other short-form leagues in attracting top men’s players. “We are the sixth highest-payer in the men’s game,” Banerjee told the podcast. “We’re about to go seventh if we stay still at the moment – which we won’t.”Banerjee also suggested that top salaries would grow at a much more significant rate than those at the bottom. “The 15th selection in a 15-man squad, with all due respect, you don’t need to pay huge sums for. They might be an up-and-coming player,” he said. “It’s that top three or four players [per team] that you do need to pay to get their time and their effort to be there, and we have fallen behind.”Top salaries could climb from £50,000 to over £100,000 in the women’s Hundred ahead of the 2025 season•Getty Images

The plans would also see each team able to sign one designated ‘England star’ on a multi-year deal, worth around £100,000 in the women’s competition and £250,000 in the men’s. The proposed increase in overseas players per playing XI from three to four would bring the tournament in line with the global standard set by the IPL, WPL, PSL and SA20.ESPNcricinfo understands that while the plans have been circulated to prospective investors, they are at a relatively early stage and may not come to fruition until 2026, depending on the speed of the ongoing sale process. The ECB has declined to comment.The Hundred’s sale process has come under fire in the past week. Banerjee, the ECB’s director of business operations, conceded that it could take until beyond the 2025 season to complete, and the process was described last week as “a big fat Ponzi scheme” by Lalit Modi, the founder and architect of the IPL who is serving a life ban from the BCCI.”I don’t recognise his particular comments,” Richard Gould, the ECB’s chief executive, told the BBC last week in response to Modi’s criticism of the Hundred’s financial projections. “It wasn’t so long ago that he [Modi] had an article in the saying he wanted to buy the competition for £1 billion.”Gould insisted the ECB are “very confident” in the strength of English cricket. “We’ve got nearly 100 or so interested parties involved in [the Hundred sales process] which is a huge number… Everyone knows that the money that comes in, we want to use it to protect and then supercharge the game throughout our county network and beyond.”The Hundred’s 2025 season will start in early August, immediately after England’s men complete a Test series against India.

Second time in Championship history a side has chased over 500 to win, after Middlesex beat Notts in 1925

ECB Reporters Network14-Jun-2023Surrey rewrote history with almost casual ease in the LV= Insurance County Championship on Wednesday, chasing down a target of 501 to beat Kent by five wickets at Canterbury.What threatened to be a pulsating final day instead turned into a one-sided procession as Dom Sibley and Ben Foakes batted mercilessly, eclipsing Surrey’s previous highest chase of 410, made at this venue in 2002, to finish on 501 for 5.Foakes made 124, while Sibley scored what’s believed to be the slowest ever century in the County Championship over the course of 511 minutes and 368 balls. He eventually finished on 140 from 415 balls, seeing Surry home with Jordan Clark after a magnificent feat of concentration and endurance.Three days of violent momentum swings, luck, individual brilliance and human error had left the match almost perfectly poised at the start of day four, with Kent needing seven wickets and Surrey 238 runs.It was the human factor that added the intrigue: without the dropped catches, the “poor” shots and the “bad” balls this would have been a torpid 700 v 700 bore draw. The final day, however, offered almost none of the drama of the previous three.Only once in the history of the Championship had a side chased over 500 to win: when Patsy Hendren hit an unbeaten 206 as Middlesex scored 502 to beat Notts by four wickets at Trent Bridge in 1925.The reigning champions did it with a determination that belied everything that had gone before. Needing under three an over, they homed in on the target like an armour-plated milk float: slow but bombproof.The morning session was almost ideal for Surrey. Foakes and Sibley saw off the new ball and scored predominantly in singles, at one point going ten overs without a boundary. Foakes survived an lbw appeal from Wes Agar but they were otherwise unthreatened.At lunch it was 335 for 3 and a Surrey win was looking as inevitable as an Arsenal title collapse. There was a fleeting moment of controversy when Kent were convinced Hamid Qadri had Foakes, on 73, caught behind, but it was an isolated outbreak of excitement during an almost catatonic afternoon.Sibley finally reached three figures when he drove Joey Evison for four, beating the previous record, understood to be Jason Gallian’s 453-minute ton for Lancashire against Derbyshire at Blackpool in 1994. He just beat his partner to the landmark: Foakes took two from Jack Leaning in the next over to bring up a relatively quickfire hundred from 198 deliveries.With the target now under a hundred, Surrey swapped the milk float for a Lamborghini. The 130th over went for 20 but Foakes then holed out to Joe Denly and was caught by Matt Quinn on the boundary, ending a partnership of 207.It was 452 for four at tea, by which time Kent’s members had long been delivered from the hell of hope and the smattering of Surrey fans by the Old Dover Road entrance were savouring every minute.Will Jacks was out for 19 caught by Agar off Arshdeep Singh but by then just 40 were needed. Clark sealed the win with a single off Denly and Surrey exited the field to a fully deserved ovation from home and away fans alike.

Mosaddek Hossain is part of all three squads while a fit-again Saifuddin finds spots in the ODI and T20I sides

Mohammad Isam22-May-2022Anamul Haque has earned a recall into the Bangladesh white-ball squads following his record-breaking run in the recently-concluded Dhaka Premier League List A competition, while Mustafizur Rahman has been named in all three squads for the upcoming tour of the West Indies.Bangladesh will play two Tests, three ODIs and three T20Is on their tour to the Caribbean that starts next month.Anamul broke Tom Moody’s 31-year-old record of scoring the most runs in a one-day competition when he amassed 1138 runs for Prime Bank Cricket Club. He last played an ODI for Bangladesh in July 2019, while it has been more than six years since he featured in a T20I. Apart from him, wicketkeeper-batter Nurul Hasan and medium-pacer Mohammad Saifuddin were also brought back into both white-ball squads.Related

• Injured Mehidy Hasan Miraz out of first Test against Sri Lanka

• Mushfiqur Rahim to skip West Indies tour for Hajj pilgrimage

• Khaled Mahmud slams Mustafizur for shunning Test duties: 'No excuses anymore'

Nurul forced his way back on the back of some big runs in the DPL Super League phase, where he helped Sheikh Jamal Dhanmondi Club to their first title. Saifuddin, meanwhile, returned after a string of injuries kept him out of contention since the 2021 T20 World Cup.Mosaddek Hossain was the biggest gainer after he was recalled into all three squads, in Mushfiqur Rahim’s absence. Mushfiqur had pulled out of the tour to take part in the Hajj pilgrimage.Mehidy Hasan Miraz was named in the Test squad after he missed the ongoing Sri Lanka series due to a hand injury.Mustafizur Rahman, too, returned to the Test squad after a year, following a reportedly long discussion with the BCB. While being named in the ODI and T20I squads was a given, Mustafizur had initially shown lesser interest in a Test return because of his IPL workload. But he later agreed to be named in the side as well. It is worth noting that Mustafizur does not have a red-ball central contract with the BCB.Bangladesh are scheduled to leave for the Caribbean on June 5. While the Tests are part of the ICC World Test Championship, the ODIs will not be part of the ICC Super League competition.Test squad: Mominul Haque (capt), Tamim Iqbal, Mahmudul Hasan Joy, Najmul Hossain Shanto, Litton Das (wk), Shakib Al Hasan, Mustafizur Rahman, Taijul Islam, Khaled Ahmed, Yasir Ali, Nurul Hasan (wk), Mosaddek Hossain, Ebadot Hossain, Shohidul Islam, Rezaur Rahman RajaODI squad: Tamim Iqbal (capt), Litton Das (wk), Najmul Hossain, Shanto, Shakib Al Hasan, Yasir Ali, Mahmudullah, Afif Hossain, Mosaddek Hossain, Nurul Hasan (wk), Mehidy Hasan Miraz, Taskin Ahmed, Shoriful Islam, Mustafizur Rahman, Ebadot Hossain, Nasum Ahmed, Mohammad Saifuddin, Anamul HaqueT20I squad: Mahmudullah (capt), Munim Shahriar, Litton Das (wk), Anamul Haque, Shakib Al Hasan, Afif Hossain, Mosaddek Hossain, Nurul Hasan (wk), Yasir Ali, Mahedi Hasan, Mustafizur Rahman, Shoriful Islam, Shohidul Islam, Nasum Ahmed, Mohammad Saifuddin

Rohit will replace Mayank Agarwal at the top of the order, while Saini comes in for the injured Umesh Yadav

ESPNcricinfo staff06-Jan-2021India have handed Navdeep Saini a Test debut and brought Rohit Sharma back as opener and vice-captain for the Sydney Test starting Thursday. Saini replaced the injured Umesh Yadav, and Rohit took the place of Mayank Agarwal. There were no other changes to the XI that won the MCG Test and levelled the series 1-1.Rohit last played a Test for India in November 2019, in a season where he made the transition from the middle order to the top. His last Test away from home was the Boxing Day game in Melbourne in 2018 following which he left the tour early for the birth of his child. Later next year, he came back as an opener, scoring three quick hundreds in five home Tests before injuries ruled him out of the Test series in New Zealand and the first two matches of the ongoing series.With regular captain Virat Kohli missing, the Indian selectors named Rohit as the vice-captain of the team, replacing Cheteshwar Pujara. R Ashwin was the other experienced member in the side who might have had claims to the post.”We all are really excited to have him back,” captain Ajinkya Rahane said of Rohit. “His experience at the highest level matters a lot. He is batting really well in the nets. He has had seven nets sessions. He came to Melbourne, and started his practice straightaway after the Test got over. He has been batting really well. The last couple of series he has batted as an opener, so you will definitely see Rohit at the top [of the order].”The man Rohit replaced, Agarwal, debuted at a time of crisis, in the Boxing Day Test of 2018-19. He averages 47.85 in a 13-Test career, but his last few scores – in Australia and new Zealand – have been 34, 58, 7, 3, 17, 9, 0, 5. He has averaged 7.75 in this series.That India would have to hand out a debut to another fast bowler was apparent the moment it was ascertained Umesh Yadav wouldn’t be available for the last two Tests after hobbling off in the second innings of the MCG Test. The 28-year-old debutant Saini has played 46 first-class games for 128 wickets at an average of 28.46. He plays domestic cricket for Delhi, but 14 of his 46 matches have been played for India A, for whom he has taken 34 wickets at 34.35.India XI for Sydney Test: 1 Rohit Sharma, 2 Shubman Gill, 3 Cheteshwar Pujara, 4 Ajinkya Rahane (capt), 5 Hanuma Vihari, 6 Rishabh Pant (wk), 7 Ravindra Jadeja, 8 R Ashwin, 9 Jasprit Bumrah, 10 Navdeep Saini, 11 Mohammed Siraj

Rawlins 56 not out after partnership with David Wiese closes the gap

Paul Edwards25-Jun-2019
Early on the second morning of this game Stiaan van Zyl dived to stop a ball on the fine leg boundary. He failed but managed to cake himself in mud, a legacy of Monday night’s heavy rain. Van Zyl’s embarrassment greatly amused Ben Brown and Chris Jordan but they would have chuckled less freely had they been told it was a portent of Sussex’s day. Or rather, of much of their day.Sussex supporters will tell you that one of the frustrations of following the county has been its occasional tendency to lose matches when simple victory beckons and win them when undertakers are parked outside the ground. They do not quite mean what they say. Sussex’s inconsistency also gives their supporters a frisson of excitement. That emotion was felt by some on the second evening of this game when the batting of Delray Rawlins took a day Durham had dominated and gave his own county’s supporters something to cheer after a grim couple of sessions.Had it not been for Rawlins’ unbeaten 56 and his eighth-wicket partnership of 109 with David Wiese, the day’s honours would have been claimed by Brydon Carse, whose four wickets were a just reward for 14 accurate overs. Perhaps they still should be; after all, Sussex have not yet saved the follow-on and the visitors are in the ascendant. But after watching Rawlins strike the ball clean and long through a perfect Hove evening Sussex supporters may have gazed into the gull-strewn sky and not known whether to curse or bless their loyalty.When Rawlins joined Wiese twenty minutes after tea Sussex were 110 for 7 and 284 runs in arrears. Gradually the 21-year-old adjusted to his task and began to hit the ball with more assurance. His second four, an on-drive off Ben Raine, was as sweet as anything we saw. Two balls later he stroked Raine easily for six in the same direction and followed that in the next over with a straight drive off James Weighell. Rawlins was beginning to enjoy himself and Wiese, too, batted with greater certainty, sweeping Liam Trevaskis for six and reaching his own fifty before falling leg before when attempting a reverse sweep. Aaron Thomason became Carse’s fourth victim a couple of overs later but by then Rawlins had reached his fifty off 88 balls with a huge six over long-on.It was intriguing as Rawlins was applauded to recall Sussex’s travails earlier in the day. The morning’s cricket, for example was divided into two very unequal parts. In the first Cameron Bancroft and Ned Eckersley extended their overnight partnership to 282, a sixth-wicket record for Durham in first-class cricket; in the second Durham lost their last five wickets for 12 runs in 32 balls, three of the wickets falling to the left-arm spin of Rawlins, a bowler who had never previously taken more than one wicket in a first-team game.Bancroft and Eckersley batted competently but needed to do little more. Thomason seemed to require more evidence Bancroft can play the pull shot; the evidence was duly provided and the ball smacked into the advertising hoarding. The session continued in similar fashion for nearly two hours. The collapse began when Eckersley, having registered his maiden century for Durham, drove too early at a ball from Luke Wells and was caught and bowled for 118. Two balls later Bancroft was lbw for 158 when sweeping a full toss from Rawlins. One wonders why long partnerships are so often the prelude to both partners getting out in quick succession. Is it a form of trivial bereavement, the second batsman being unable to carry on without his long-time colleague? Simple destabilisation is probably a better explanation. Either way, it never seemed to unsettle Bradman.Such thoughts did not trouble Rawlins. He carried on giving it a tweak and had picked up two more wickets and a career-best 3 for 19 before Will Beer wrapped up an untidy session on the stroke of tiffin. All the same, 384 seemed a decent score and an even better one when Sussex were 3 for 2 twenty minutes into the afternoon session.Their favourites’ rapid decline did not surprise the regulars in the Sharks stand. One declared he had never seen anything like it. (He probably had.) Another that: “We’ll be batting again by tea.”(They weren’t.) But Sussex, whose top-order batting is flaky at the moment, were five down at tea, two of their early wickets having been taken by Chris Rushworth, who struck with the fourth ball of the innings when Wells’ weak defensive push only edged a catch to Alex Lees at first slip. Will Beer, whose place as opener indicates a willingness to help rather than unsuspected competence, was then leg before to a full length ball from Carse, and Harry Finch was then trapped in front by one from Rushworth which nipped back down the hill.Subsequent recoveries beguiled supporters in the Spen Cama Pavilion but ultimately deceived them. Laurie Evans made 20 before being caught down the leg side off Weighell. Van Zyl batted carefully for 34 but played down the wrong line to Gareth Harte’s fourth ball of the day. That wicket fell a few minutes before tea; two balls after the resumption Brown made to whip Carse through midwicket but only gave a catch off the leading edge to Rushworth at mid-on. By now Wiese was at the crease and four overs later he was joined by Rawlins. Sussex supporters could have given up the day as a bad job but instead they opted to stay where they were and watch this young lad Rawlins for a while.

The PCB has referred the matter for adjudication to a three-member anti-corruption tribunal

ESPNcricinfo staff05-Apr-2018The PCB’s legal dispute with former Pakistan cricketer Nasir Jamshed is set to go to an anti-corruption tribunal after the batsman rejected all charges against him. In February, the PCB had charged Jamshed for five breaches of their anti-corruption code. Those charges were issued five days before Jamshed’s one-year ban, for non-cooperation with the PCB’s spot-fixing investigation during PSL 2017, ended on February 13.Following Jamshed’s stance, the PCB issued a press statement, saying chairman Najam Sethi had referred the matter for adjudication to a three-member anti-corruption tribunal, which comprises Justice (Retd.) Fazl-e-Miran Chauhan, Shahzaib Masood and former Pakistan cricketer Aqib Javed.According to officials involved with the case, the PCB had acted after the emergence of fresh evidence, centering around alleged meetings in the UK prior to last season’s PSL. The board has, over the past year, claimed to have had overwhelming evidence against Jamshed. The PCB has also been waiting for the NCA to share their evidence, which has not happened yet. However, an NCA official did appear as a witness via video link in one of the PCB’s tribunal hearings. At least one part of the evidence against Jamshed is a collection of WhatsApp voice recordings allegedly between Jamshed and others also implicated in the case; these recordings were leaked to the media.Jamshed has all along denied any wrongdoing and has, in fact, threatened to take the PCB to court for maligning his name. Jamshed is based in Birmingham and has been communicating with the PCB through his Lahore-based lawyer, and has appeared before the PCB tribunal via video link.Jamshed was the fifth Pakistani player sanctioned in relation to the spot-fixing case that marred the start of the PSL in 2017. Sharjeel Khan, Khalid Latif, Mohammad Irfan and Mohammad Nawaz were all fined and banned for separate charges. Shahzaib Hasan was also charged and is presently undergoing legal proceedings before a three-member tribunal.

The 19-year-old batsman had a breakout season in the Women’s Big Bash League, finishing among the top five run-getters

ESPNcricinfo staff31-Jan-2017In a season of breakthroughs for women’s cricket in Australia, Ashleigh Gardner is set to become the latest by becoming the first indigenous cricketer to debut for Australia women since the pioneering figure of Faith Thomas started out all of 59 years ago.Gardner’s barnstorming displays with the bat for the Sydney Sixers – she scored 414 runs in 16 matches with three fifties – have earned her a spot in the squad for both the Twenty20 and 50-over matches to be played against New Zealand women over the next month. More pointedly, they offer her a chance to earn selection in the squad for the World Cup, due to be played in England later this year.

Australia women squads for NZ matches

Twenty20s: Meg Lanning (capt), Kristen Beams, Alex Blackwell, Lauren Cheatle, Rene Farrell, Ashleigh Gardner, Alyssa Healy, Jess Jonassen, Beth Mooney, Megan Schutt, Molly Strano, Elyse Villani, Amanda-Jade Wellington
ODIs: Meg Lanning (capt), Kristen Beams, Alex Blackwell, Nicole Bolton, Lauren Cheatle, Rene Farrell, Ashleigh Gardner, Alyssa Healy, Jess Jonassen, Beth Mooney, Ellyse Perry (subject to fitness), Megan Schutt, Elyse Villani, Amanda-Jade Wellington

Australia’s captain Meg Lanning was delighted by the 19-year-old’s selection, having seen her destructive potential up close during the Women’s Big Bash League. “It’s great to see, a big step for her but she’s really deserved it,” Lanning said. “She’s come of age I guess in the last 12 months and really dominated, which is what we want to see.”She’ll fit into the group really well, a great kid, so looking forward to having her around and hopefully she can take her opportunity. Consistency takes time, you come in and make a few scores but it’s about being consistent and she’s done that throughout.”She’s often come in to bat under pressure during the WBBL after a few wickets have gone down early, and she plays her own game, players to her strengths and takes the game on, which exactly what we want in the side. She’s played some outrageous shots in innings throughout the WBBL, so it’s exciting to see young girls coming through and putting up their hand at state level and being rewarded.”A hamstring strain means that Ellyse Perry will be unavailable for the T20 matches but Lanning said she was hopeful of a return in time for the Rose Bowl 50-over series. “Having Ellyse Perry missing for the T20s isn’t ideal but it gives an opportunity to someone else coming through,” Lanning said.”We’re getting closer to the side we want to have for the World Cup, but there’s still opportunities for everyone to impress. It’s a very important series against New Zealand and we’re looking forward to the challenge because we know they’re a very good team.”We’ll just have to see how she’s tracking, it’s disappointing for her to miss out but once she’s fit she’ll come back in and we know what a special player she is. You’ve just got to adapt to these things and do the best you can.”The transition from T20 to 50-over cricket is something Lanning and her team will have to make over the next few weeks, having experienced a glut of the shortest form via the WBBL but now needing to refocus ahead of their defence of the World Cup. “It’s mostly about patience with bat and ball,” she said.”Even in T20 cricket you’ve got more time than you think, so one-dayers tend to drag on a bit now we played so many T20s. It’s just really knowing your game plan and what suits your team and individuals and having the patience and really just backing yourself. We’ve been in good form in one-dayers of the last couple of years so it’s really important that we become really consistent with it.”New Zealand will travel to Australia for three T20Is, which will be played between February 17 and 22 in Melbourne, South Geelong and Adelaide. Australia will then visit New Zealand for three ODIs, in Mount Maunganui, between February 26 and March 5.

New Zealand fast bowler Tim Southee has been ruled out of the upcoming two-match T20I series against Sri Lanka after scans showed a bruise on the bone of his left foot

ESPNcricinfo staff05-Jan-20161:03

Sri Lanka seek revenge in T20s

New Zealand fast bowler Tim Southee has been ruled out of the upcoming two-match T20I series against Sri Lanka after scans showed a bruise on the bone of his left foot.Southee had sustained the injury during the third ODI in Nelson, and was subsequently replaced in the ODI squad by Matt Henry. An NZC release confirmed that Henry would stand in for Southee even in the T20s.”Tim was feeling really fresh after coming back from a break for the first two ODIs, so it’s certainly disappointing for him that this has happened now,” Mike Hesson, New Zealand’s coach, said. “Tim’s obviously a key member of our team and been a strong performer for us in all three formats, so he’s a big loss.”We haven’t set a date for his return at this point, but will continue to monitor him and work to get him back to full fitness as quickly as possible.”Incidentally, that Nelson match was Southee’s first ODI since June, as he had been rested for the limited-overs tour to Africa in August. Southee suffered from an irritated disc in his back during the first Test against Australia in Brisbane, but regained his fitness to play the remaining two matches, in Perth and Adelaide.He was also rested for the first two ODIs of the Sri Lanka series, in Christchurch, and in his absence, Henry, Southee’s replacement, went on to take four-wicket hauls in both games.

Michael Klinger smashed a brilliant 61-ball century to lead Gloucestershire to a 48-run Friends Life t20 victory over Worcestershire at Bristol

30-Jun-2013
ScorecardMichael Klinger hit his first T20 hundred to set up a comfortable win for Gloucestershire•Getty Images

Michael Klinger smashed a brilliant 61-ball century to lead Gloucestershire to a 48-run Friends Life t20 victory over Worcestershire at Bristol.The skipper cracked five sixes and nine fours in contributing 108 to the home side’s total of 184 for 5 after winning the toss, with the next highest score Alex Gidman’s 18. In reply Worcestershire could muster only 136 all out, Alexei Kervezee making 39 and Ben Cox 37 going in at No. 8. James Fuller, David Payne and Benny Howell all bowled tightly for Gloucestershire.Both teams went into the game on the back of defeats in their opening match but after a steady start opener Klinger paced his innings perfectly, accelerating to move from a half-century to his first Twenty20 ton in just 27 deliveries. His five sixes included three in the 17th over, sent down by Daryl Mitchell, which cost the Worcestershire captain 25 runs. The first was over extra cover and the next two straight into the flats being constructed at the Ashley Down Road End.Gidman provided the best support in a fifth-wicket stand of 65 from five overs but was felled by a beamer from Chris Russell, which hit him in the chest, in the 19th over and did not field later in the game. It was Russell’s second such delivery in the over so he was ordered out of the attack and it was completed by Gareth Andrew, who bowled Gidman with the first ball after the batsman received treatment.Worcestershire’s reply got off to a bad start when Moeen Ali drove a catch to cover off Fuller’s fourth ball of the innings and it was 4 for 2 when Thilan Samaraweera skied to slip off Dan Christian. At the end of the six overs of the Powerplay the visitors were becalmed on 35 for 2. The next over saw Mitchell caught at short fine-leg off Payne to make it 39 for three.Andre Russell launched left-arm spinner Tom Smith for two big sixes but perished leg before in the same over and at the halfway stage Worcestershire were 60 for 4, needing a further 125 off 10 overs. They never looked remotely capable of that and wickets continued to fall around Kervezee as Gloucestershire outplayed their opponents in all departments. Cox at least hit a couple of sixes in a defiant and impressive 24-ball effort.

A bludgeoned half-century from new boy Richard Levi and career-best bowling figures from Max Waller saw Somerset to a 63-run victory over Warwickshire

13-Jun-2012
ScorecardA bludgeoned half-century from new boy Richard Levi and career-best bowling figures from leg-spinner Max Waller saw Somerset to a 63-run Friends Life t20 victory over Warwickshire at Taunton.Levi hit 69 off just 34 deliveries, while Waller’s four wickets cost just 16 runs as last season’s beaten finalists started this season’s competition with a win.Somerset, put into bat in front of a crowd of more than 5,000 were given a good start by Craig Kieswetter, who hit a swift 20 – including two sixes – before he was caught at short fine leg by Chris Wright off Chris Woakes.The same bowler struck again in the fifth over when Peter Trego pulled a short delivery to Darren Maddy at deep midwicket. Jos Buttler brought the 50 up with an inside edge to the fine leg boundary off Woakes’ final over.Offspinner Jeetan Patel was brought into the attack for the 10th over and with his second delivery tempted Buttler on 16 to give a catch to Woakes at deep backward point. At the halfway point the hosts were 80 for 3, with Levi on 34.However, in the next over the opener heaved a full toss from Steffan Piolet over midwicket for six – and he repeated the feat off the last ball. In the next over Levi reached his half-century with a boundary to square leg off Patel, which also brought up the Somerset 100.New batsman Albie Morkel hit his first six two balls later when he drove Patel over long-on – and the South African pair took 19 off the 13th over, bowled by Keith Barker. Maddy came on for the 15th and Levi despatched the first ball over long on for six, however four deliveries later Levi’s eye-catching knock was over when he was caught at deep long-on by Woakes.Levi contributes six fours and four sixes and his fourth-wicket partnership with Morkel produced 67 runs from 33 balls. Morkel was run out for 38 off the third ball of the penultimate over by a direct throw from Patel – and three balls later Nick Compton was superbly caught by Chris Wright running back from short fine-leg to collect a top-edged scoop.Chasing a victory target of 192, Laurie Evans and Varun Chopra had taken the total onto 40 in the sixth over when Thomas bowled Evans for 17. Trego accepted a sharp chance to catch William Porterfield at extra cover off Waller, who struck with his next delivery when Maddy was leg before wicket.Chopra went down the wicket to George Dockrell in the next over and was smartly stumped by Kieswetter for 37, before Waller picked up his third wicket when he bowled Rikki Clarke for six with the total on 72.Steve Kirby returned at the Old Pavilion and with the last ball of the 12th over bowled Barker for 3. Waller struck again with the third ball of his final over when Woakes was caught at short midwicket by Thomas, leaving the Bears teetering on 80 for 7.Thomas returned at the River End for the 18th over and immediately claimed his third scalp when Johnson was caught at short midwicket by Trego, then three balls later Patel followed when he was caught by Waller at short cover. Fittingly, Levi ended the Bears innings on 128 when he caught Wright at long-on.