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At the close of the third day in the second Investec Test, England had been hopeful of setting a target above 200, while West Indies ideally wanted to keep them to 150. The scale of the turnaround in expectations can be measured simply enough: when England on the fourth evening, they had set West Indies 322 to win, a score that would constitute the highest successful chase at Headingley since 1948.There was no one saviour of England’s second innings as the collective strength of their lower order again coalesced into a formidable whole. Joe Root, Dawid Malan and Ben Stokes contributed half-centuries but, at 327 for 7, they were still only 158 ahead. Enter Moeen Ali and Chris Woakes, whose belligerent stand of 117 in 23.2 overs put England firmly on top.It was an eighth-wicket partnership that, coincidentally, equalled that of Ian Botham and Graham Dilley on this ground in 1981, and one that put a severe dent in West Indies’ chances of a first Test victory in England since 2000. Moeen, in particular, revelled in his role as the tourists lost their grip on the match.”We felt like their heads went down pretty quickly after tea,” he said. “We were trying to go up five runs at a time and keep going, keep burying them almost, make them suffer in terms of keeping them out in the field. Their bowlers were getting tired, there wasn’t much going on and they were a bit down I guess as a side.”We didn’t try to go out and be positive, it just came off. I think that was due to the way the guys played up top, we kind of pounced on it a little bit.”England had to dig in during the first half of the day, having resumed on a lead of just two runs with seven wickets in hand. They lost Root during the morning session, before a watchful 91-run stand between Malan and Stokes, only for a mini-slide of 3 for 24 during the afternoon to leave them in a precarious position once again.Ben Stokes congratulates Dawid Malan on his half-century•Getty Images

They did appear to gain a slice of luck after tea when Moeen, on 32, edged Devendra Bishoo to the wicketkeeper – it had already been called a no-ball, though replays suggested it was a tough decision against the bowler and one that could not be rescinded via technology. While both Moeen and Roddy Estwick, West Indies’ bowling coach, played down the incident, it seemed to help shift momentum England’s way.”I feel with the team we have and the strength we have, we were capable of being in this position,” Moeen said. “We’re very, very happy to be in this position, at the start of the day we probably wouldn’t have thought we would be and it’s fantastic.”Definitely, over the last couple of years, we feel one of us [in the lower order] will get the opposition. We thrive on that. We know we’ve got the ability to do that. It’s great when guys at the top like Rooty, Malan and Cooky get runs, then we can come in and capitalise. If we are struggling, because we see ourselves as proper batters, it’s a great situation to have as a team.”If England were to pull off victory, after Root’s attacking evening declaration, it would rank alongside a couple of similar recent comebacks. Moeen was again to the fore against Pakistan at Edgbaston last season, with a freewheeling 86 off 96, as they overcame a first-innings deficit of 103, while victory over New Zealand at Lord’s in 2015, when they trailed by 134, was achieved on the back of twin 50-plus scores from Ben Stokes.Although no breakthrough was forthcoming in the six overs possible at West Indies’ openers, Woakes said that the players were confident of taking ten wickets on the final day.”The deficit after the first innings, we were very much behind the eight-ball,” he said. “To even be in this position, we’re delighted to have the opportunity to go out and potentially win a Test match. We do realise it’s still a half-decent pitch but, fingers crossed, it does deteriorate on day five and give a bit of variable bounce. If we bowl well and stay patient we can get the Test win over the line but rest up and be patient, it’s going to be a tough day.”Estwick was left to lament another example of West Indies’ poor catching costing them, after Malan was dropped during the morning session at a point when England’s lead was just 43. He said, however, that the tourists had gone some way to proving their ability, after an innings defeat in the first Test, and were not giving up hope of victory.”It’s been very frustrating, mainly because we work very, very hard at it,” he said of the fielding. “We continue to make mistakes at critical times – when we dropped Malan today, England could have been 50 for 5. You can’t continue to give good players chances at this level and we really paid for it.”We’re still looking to win this Test match. We’ve got nothing to lose … We’re still in with a chance. If we can play well enough in the first two sessions, then we’ll assess at tea and see where we’re at.”I remember in 1984, we were set 300-odd and Gordon Greenidge got 200-odd and we won that Test match. So hopefully tomorrow the boys can come out and go well. But the key thing for us is that we’ve shown improvement, after the Birmingham Test match when everyone was saying we were the worst team to ever arrive on these shores, we’ve scrapped and battled and taken it in the fifth day with a chance of winning.”

ScorecardBrendon McCullum revived Middlesex’s fortunes•Getty Images

Middlesex revived their T20 hopes with a 16-run defeat of Kent Spitfires at Richmond as their captain Brendon McCullum provided runs to go with his inspirational qualities to once again fill their season with optimism.McCullum’s captain’s innings of 88 in 51 balls – his first major knock of the season – looked set to be the launchpad for a formidable total but Calum Haggett’s 3-27, and a Matt Coles’ hat-trick, restricted the hosts to 179 for 8. However, Kent started poorly and while half-centuries from Sam Northeast and James Neesham kept them in the hunt the rate climbed steadily. With wickets falling too they fell to their third defeat of the competition.Victory will be a boon, too, for their coach Dan Vettori, one of only two specialist T20 coaches in the competition, after a sluggish start to the season.Steve Finn, Middlesex’s England fast bowler, was bullish about their chances after McCullum had led them to victory. “It was an exceptional innings and great to watch,” he said. “He hit so cleanly. Everyone is happy in the dressing room right now. We have an exceptional top order.”This is the strongest team I have played in since since making the final in 2008. We’ve been found wanting in T20 since so it is important we have put this structure into place, We are still getting to know the coaches and captain anf haven’t fired consistently as a team yet, but we don’t want to peak too early.”Put into bat on a greenish pitch, Middlesex began with alacrity, but also with the benefit of fortune. Matt Coles surprised McCullum when the Kiwi was on six but though the ball popped up temptingly it fell between fielders. McCullum had scored another 11 when he drove the same bowler to Northeast at cover only for his Kent counterpart to drop him. On both occasions, to Coles’ chagrin, the next ball was smacked for four.With McCullum reaching his 50 in the ninth over, and the opening partnership into the 80s, 200-plus beckoned. Even after England call-up Dawid Malan, having pulled Coles for six into the food tents, gloved the next ball to depart for 33 it was 125 for 1 after 13. But James Tredwell (1-22) and Haggett staunched the flow of runs.Frustrated, McCallum played one bold shot too many, bowled trying to ramp, and a clatter of wickets ensued. Morgan followed successive sixes by holing out then Coles took a last-over hat-trick completed by bowling Tim Southee first ball.Southee fared better with ball in hand, having Daniel Bell-Drummond leg before to the opener’s first ball. The in-form Joe Denly, having survived a very sharp chance to McCullum, then edged Finn to leave Kent 2-2. Sam Billings soon followed but Northeast and Neesham, running excellently for a pair only recently acquainted, and finding hitherto unseen gaps in this small outground, added 75 in nine overs. However, boundaries were sporadic and by the time Northeast skied the rate had crept above 11-an-over.Darren Stevens quickly followed but Kent have a long battery of hitters. Blake joined Neesham and it came down to 38 off three overs, then 29 off two, but when that pair perished the game was done.

The Tamil Nadu Cricket Association (TNCA) is on a collision course with the BCCI after it reaffirmed its ambition to sign up ‘outstation’ players for the Tamil Nadu Premier League (TNPL).Responding to a BCCI query about a large number of non-Tamil Nadu players, including some big names like Suresh Raina, Yusuf Pathan and Manoj Tiwary, on the draft list for TNPL, the TNCA has reiterated that these players are eligible having been registered with the local leagues in the state.This is a not position the BCCI seems inclined to accept. In 2009, it had rejected a request from the Karnataka State Cricket Association (KSCA) to allow outstation players to participate in the Karnataka Premier League.N Srinivasan, who was at the time both BCCI secretary and TNCA president, had said the board would have no problem with the league “as long as they do not include players from outside Karnataka”. The TNPL is Srinivasan’s brainchild.The question of allowing outstation players in the TNPL had first cropped up during its inaugural edition last year. The BCCI had in a working committee meeting last year ruled that no player outside the jurisdiction of a state would be allowed to take part in such leagues. Now, the TNCA in its letter to the board on Tuesday has claimed the outstation players, by virtue of registering with the TNCA, are under its jurisdiction for the purposes of the TNPL.”We have taken a stand that we are going by BCCI rules,” a TNPL official told ESPNcricinfo on Tuesday. “The BCCI Executive Committee last year said that only players who have registered with the state [association] can play. They further added that the players should come under the state association’s jurisdiction. Now, all these players have registered with the TNCA to play league cricket, and therefore they are under our jurisdiction.”If an outstation player can play in the TNCA’s first-division league and its 50-overs competition, how is TNPL any different? It is a tournament conducted by the TNCA; it is not that we have outsourced this to somebody else. For instance, Piyush Chawla, employed by Chemplast, can play in the final of the TNCA first-division league, so what is the logic in not allowing him to play in the TNPL?”[As far as jurisdiction is concerned] if an outstation player playing in the TNCA league gets embroiled in a disciplinary issue, doesn’t the TNCA have the right to take disciplinary action? We exercise jurisdiction over the players when they are registered with us.”Questioning the BCCI’s interpretation of the rule, the official said the board didn’t have a case to prevent the participation of these players. He didn’t rule out the possibility of exploring legal options as well. “This year, we are not going to take it lying down. We will ask them under which authority they are asking us [to not include these players],” he said. “The Lodha Committee puts players’ rights first, but the BCCI is imposing restrictions.”The official called for free movement of players and said there should be no restriction on where they play so long as their commitment to their state teams isn’t affected. “The only restriction should be when those players are called up for Ranji camps or state matches,” he said. “That’s player is coming here because he is free now. Obviously, their first priority is towards their state teams. But when they are free, they are entitled to play whatever tournament they want.”

The BCCI has been forced to put off the special general meeting (SGM) scheduled for Tuesday to ratify the three Lodha Committee recommendations shortlisted for reconsideration by the Supreme Court.The postponement was because some state associations – Tamil Nadu, Saurashtra, Kerala and Goa among them – objected to the short notice given for scheduling the SGM, saying it did not comply with BCCI regulations. The BCCI will now issue a 15-day notice for the next date of the SGM; it is expected to be held between July 25 and 27. The minimum notice period for calling an SGM is ten days.According to a BCCI official, the delay will not hinder the decision taken by the special committee, which was appointed to shortlist which Lodha Committee recommendations to put forth for reconsideration. “The special committee had met twice and three points were finally shortlisted,” the board official said. “That was all communicated to the COA. It will file a status report in any case.”Tuesday’s postponement is another example of the delaying tactics used by a section of the BCCI’s members who are against implementing the Lodha Committee recommendations, ever since the Supreme Court of India approved them in an order on July 18, 2016.At the previous SGM on June 27, the BCCI members were made aware of the lack of time to finalise the recommendations ahead of the Supreme Court hearing on July 14. Former BCCI president N Srinivasan, who was not in favour of the BCCI adopting a new constitution as per the Lodha Committee’s recommendations, was present at that June 27 SGM as the Tamil Nadu Cricket Association’s (TNCA) representative.On July 8, BCCI secretary Amitabh Choudhary had said in an email that the SGM had been called on July 11 as per the instructions of acting board president CK Khanna, and that the short notice was subject to the approval of the members.On July 10, the TNCA was the first to lodge a protest against the two-day notice for the SGM; its secretary RI Palani said it was “illegal”. “The meeting, should it be convened on July11, 2017, would be illegal and all decisions taken there would be of no consequence.”According to Palani, it was a “critical requirement” for members to have enough time to discuss the recommendations and the implications of implementing them. “Curtailing this process is antithetical to the democratic principles on which the BCCI and its members are based.”

Harmanpreet Kaur is set to become the first Indian to play in the Kia Super League, England’s domestic T20 tournament. The 28-year old was signed up by Surrey Stars for the upcoming season starting in August 2017.Harmanpreet has played 139 international matches, scoring 2915 runs and collecting 34 wickets. She was selected as India’s T20I captain in November 2016 and has been a vital cog in India’s top order across all formats. She already has experience playing franchise T20 cricket, having turned out for Sydney Thunder in the Women’s Big Bash League last year. She made 296 runs at an average of 59.20 in 12 matches but was pulled out during the final stages of the tournament to attend a training camp with the rest of her Indian team-mates. Harmanpreet was adjudged Sydney Thunder’s WBBL Player of the Tournament.The second season of the Kia Super League begins on August 10. It features six teams, with the one finishing on top after the league stage moving through to the final. The second and third placed teams participate in a play-off and the winner moves on to the title clash.

AB de Villiers, the ODI captain, and Hashim Amla are among eight marquee South Africa players for the inaugural franchise-based CSA T20 League to be played in November-December this year. This follows the signing of eight marquee international players – Chris Gayle, Kevin Pietersen, Brendon McCullum, Dwayne Bravo, Lasith Malinga, Eoin Morgan, Kieron Pollard and Jason Roy – last week.Each marquee South Africa player will represent a new franchise based in the city he’s been associated with or “a city which he can build a strong association.” The other marquee local players are Quinton de Kock, JP Duminy, Faf du Plessis, the T20 and Test captain, David Miller, Kagiso Rabada and Imran Tahir.”The selection of our own South African marquee players has been very exciting. It will be even more exciting when we engage fans to help us to allocate the hometown hero to each franchise team,” Haroon Lorgat, the CSA chief executive, said. “This announcement is another major step towards establishing our new T20 League.”We must not understate the world-class quality of our own players. They are household names across the world, and our fans in South Africa will finally get the chance to see them compete against one another at home. Together with the international marquee players announced last week, the Protea stars will add great value to the new franchise teams they will represent.”Along with the marquee local player, each franchise will also be allocated one international marquee player, effectively ensuring the eight franchises will start with two marquee players ahead of the draft system that will help complete the 17-member squad.

Travis Head, the Australia limited-overs batsman, will return to Headingley this summer as Yorkshire’s overseas player for the NatWest T20 Blast.Head, 23, played four times for the club in last season’s competition, scoring 113 runs at a strike rate of 134.52 before being called up for Australia’s ODI series in Sri Lanka.He has played 29 matches for Australia in white-ball cricket since January 2016, and has earned a reputation with Adelaide Strikers in the Big Bash League as one of the most explosive batsmen in T20 cricket.”I am looking forward to returning to Headingley to play for the Yorkshire Vikings in 2017,” said Head. “I really enjoyed my time in Yorkshire last year and I can’t wait to meet up with the lads again.”As an overseas player, I would like to help the team go further than last year and hopefully win the NatWest T20 Blast.”Martyn Moxon, Yorkshire’s director of cricket, confirmed the signing during the club’s Annual General Meeting at Headingley.”When Travis came over last year, although his stay was relatively brief, he showed his capabilities in that short period. He has gone from strength to strength since then, so it an easy decision to bring him back.”Travis is now an established international cricketer and we are really looking forward to having him on board. Together with Peter Handscomb, I believe that we have two outstanding overseas players.”We have all bases covered now, so it is something to look forward to.”Andrew Gale, the first XI coach, added: “It was a no-brainer to bring Travis back. If we had the opportunity to bring him back, we were always going to. He has gone from strength-to-strength since he left us last summer, getting into the Australia team and being a consistent performer for them.”We have been looking at someone to make a big impact and Travis did that for us last year. He is a fantastic player around the dressing room and a fantastic one on the pitch.”That middle order batting position has been key for us in T20 over the last few years, getting someone who is explosive and can win you a game. Travis did that for us last year and given his availability, we were always going to try and sign him again.”

Bangladesh opening batsman Imrul Kayes has been ruled out of contention for the one-off Test against India, which starts on Thursday in Hyderabad. Imrul injured his left thigh while fielding on day two of the Bangladeshis’ tour match against India A at the Gymkhana ground.According to BCB media manager Rabeed Imam, it is a recurrence of the same injury that ruled Imrul out of the second Test against New Zealand in Christchurch last month.In Imrul’s absence, Soumya Sarkar – who replaced him in Christchurch, opened for the first time in Tests, and scored 86 and 36 – is likely to open alongside Tamim Iqbal in Hyderabad. Bangladesh have not called up an opener as Imrul’s replacement, instead flying in the middle-order batsman Mosaddek Hossain, who played the ODIs and T20s in New Zealand but was overlooked for the Tests.Imrul’s injury comes as a significant blow to Bangladesh ahead of their first-ever Test on Indian soil. While Imrul’s Test record is modest – 1432 runs at 28.64 – he and Tamim have forged what is by far Bangladesh’s most successful opening partnership. Together, they have scored 2205 runs, and average an impressive 47.93as a pair with four century stands.Bangladesh squad: Mushfiqur Rahim (capt & wk), Tamim Iqbal, Sabbir Rahman, Mahmudullah, Shakib Al Hasan, Mehedi Hasan, Taijul Islam, Kamrul Islam Rabbi, Soumya Sarkar, Taskin Ahmed, Subashis Roy, Liton Das (wk), Mominul Haque, Shafiul Islam, Mosaddek Hossain.

The spotlight on pitches has returned to Indian cricket following their defeat inside three days on a rank turner in Pune by an unfancied Australian team. Preparations at the venue for the second Test, Bangalore, though suggest the playing surface might not be as extreme.R Sudhakar Rao, secretary at the Karnataka State Cricket Association, said that the groundstaff at M Chinnaswamy stadium were working towards providing a strip that helps a Test match last its entire duration. He also said the Indian team has not arrived on site yet and have not left any instructions to be followed either.”So far we have not been told anything,” he told , “Once they arrive, we have to see if they make any suggestions.”Our intention is to prepare a sporting, Test-match pitch. We want a five-day match. We definitely don’t want to see the match end in two and a half days.”The last Test match at the M Chinnaswamy stadium, between India and South Africa in 2015, was washed out with only one day’s play possible. That prompted a large-scale renovation and though the pitches on the square were untouched, the outfield itself was dug out to install a state-of-the-art drainage system. Bangalore has already hosted an international match since then – the T20I between India and England – but this will be its first Test since its makeover. PR Vishwanathan, the South Zone head of the BCCI’s ground and pitches committee, is expected to oversee preparations before it begins on March 4.For now, the Chinnaswamy deck, under the supervision of the in-house curator K Sriram, continues to get water. “We like to keep some moisture underneath. So we haven’t stopped watering it,” Rao said. “We’ll water it until two or three days before the match. Then we will see what the pitch looks like, two days out, and take a call.”On the first two days, the pitch should be good for batting and help medium-pacers. On days two and three there should be slow turn. Then on the last two days there should be more turn. I have told Sriram to prepare that kind of wicket,” Rao said “At least, that is our intention.”

Two Tests into Australia’s summer, Nathan Lyon’s position appeared to be in jeopardy. The interim chairman of selectors, Trevor Hohns, hinted ahead of the Adelaide Test against South Africa that had Steve O’Keefe not suffered a calf injury shortly before the squad was selected, he may well have taken the place of the struggling Lyon. Fast forward four Tests and Lyon is earning nothing but praise from within the Australian camp.If he was not exactly a match-winner at the SCG, he was at least a very valuable contributor, picking up five wickets in the victory. And with a four-Test tour of India beginning next month, Australia’s selectors are pleased to see Lyon returning to something close to his best. At the SCG, he often bowled in tandem with left-armer O’Keefe in what could be a preview of Australia’s spin attack for the India tour.”I thought Nathan was very good in Melbourne and brilliant in this Test match,” coach and selector Darren Lehmann said. “That’s the best he’s bowled for a long period of time. I think he’ll admit that. He used his variation really well, bowled well to right and left-handers, bowled over and around, and chopped and changed, which was really pleasing.”Sometimes he gets into the one way, he just wants to bowl over the wicket all the time. He was exceptional in this game and bowled really well. I’m looking forward to that sort of combination going to India.”Ashton Agar, who was part of Australia’s squad for the Sydney Test but was not included in the XI, also has a strong chance of being picked in the touring party. However, Lehmann also said that Victoria’s spin-bowling allrounder Glenn Maxwell would be another contender for a place in what is likely to be an expanded squad to cover for all eventualities.”He’ll certainly come under consideration with India coming up,” Lehmann said on ABC Radio on Saturday morning. “We know he plays spin bowling well and offers that extra dimension, and is a gun fielder. We want to see him make runs, and he’s had a reasonable start to the BBL. That’s the challenge for him, to keep going, and then hopefully [earn a place] in the one-day squad.”Glenn Maxwell, whose last Test was in 2014, could make a return to Australia’s scheme of things for the tour of India•Getty Images

Whichever spinners make the cut for Australia, they will need quickly to work out that bowling in India requires a very different approach compared to Australian pitches that offer plenty of bounce. Although Lyon was Australia’s leading wicket-taker on the 2013 tour of India, with 15 at 37.33, he had been dropped after leaking runs in the first Test in Chennai.”Nathan Lyon, at the moment, I think he is bowling very well,” Pakistan’s captain, Misbah-ul-Haq, said. “But if you compare Australian conditions with the Indian conditions, or any Asian conditions, there is difference of bounce, which normally spinners get in Australia. That’s why I think when our spinners come here, it is difficult for them because they have to get used to these conditions and utilize that bounce in their favour.”When the bowlers from here go to Asia, they find it difficult to utilize these sort of turning tracks, because there, under-cutter bowlers who bowl quicker are effective. Bowlers who bowl overspin and bowl slower normally get thrashed. It will be difficult for them. I think they can [do well], it’s about adjusting yourself to the conditions. The biggest challenge will be India’s strong batting line-up. They’re batting beautifully in their own conditions.”Australia’s batsmen will also face a significant challenge in India. The squad will spend two weeks in Dubai ahead of the tour, training on turning pitches at the ICC’s Academy and playing an unofficial three-day game there in an effort to acclimatise to Asian conditions. They then head to Mumbai for a tour match ahead of the first Test in Pune, which begins from February 23.”It’ll be a pretty tough camp,” Lehmann said of the Dubai leg of the journey. “Batting long periods of time is going to be the key. I think Alastair Cook summed it up really well on their tour, where they didn’t bat long enough. They got decent scores but still didn’t bat long enough. That’s going to be a challenge for the group.”We batted 135 overs in this first innings – we need to bat 150-plus in India, to post a big, big total. It’s a great challenge for the group going forward. They’re fit and strong, so they should be able to bat long periods of time.”