All posts by csb10.top

Big picture

Pakistan and Afghanistan, two teams who are very familiar with the conditions in UAE, will be up against each other for the first time in the Asia Cup, on Wednesday, and only the third time in T20Is. Though Pakistan have a perfect record against Afghanistan – having won both the matches in 2013 and 2019 – it’s going to be anybody’s game in Sharjah.Having kicked off the Asia Cup with two impressive wins against higher-ranked Bangladesh and Sri Lanka in the group stage, Afghanistan endured a defeat to Dasun Shanaka’s men after posting 175 for 6 in their first Super 4 match. But there were takeaways for them. First of all, it was a close game. And overall, they’ve shown they no longer just rely on the spin trio of Rashid Khan, Mujeeb Ur Rahman and captain Mohammad Nabi for wickets anymore. Their fast bowlers Fazalhaq Farooqi and Naveen-ul-Haq have emerged as match-winners for them.In the batting department, the likes of Najibullah Zadran, Rahmanullah Gurbaz and Ibrahim Zadran have all stepped up to the challenge. They will need to keep to those levels if Afghanistan are to make the final.Pakistan, meanwhile, have been able to put up convincing victories despite injuries to key players and their captain being out of form. Mohammad Rizwan has done well to cover for Babar Azam, with 192 runs from three innings. The likes of Fakhar Zaman and Khushdil Shah have also chipped in, and in the previous match, against India, allrounder Mohammad Nawaz blazed away to 42 off 20 balls after being promoted to No.4.Bowling still remains their biggest strength, with spinners Shadab Khan and Nawaz sharing 13 wickets between them from three matches. Add the young Naseem Shah to the picture and the attack looks even more potent.While a victory will take Pakistan to the final after having beaten defending champions India in a last-over thriller, they will have to overcome a highly motivated opponent as Afghanistan themselves chase their first win in the Super 4s.

Form guide

Pakistan: WWLLW (last five completed matches, most recent first)
Afghanistan: LWWLW

In the spotlight

Filling in a Shaheen Shah Afridi-sized hole in Pakistan’s bowling line-up isn’t easy, but Naseem Shah, just three T20Is old, has proved he can come close. He burst on the scene in red-ball cricket with his searing pace and swing, and turns out, that combination works in the shorter formats too. The 19-year-old has picked up five wickets in three matches so far in the competition and will have a big role to play in restricting Afghanistan’s improved batting. Especially with the experienced Haris Rauf struggling a little bit.Naseem Shah has starred with five wickets from three matches•AFP/Getty Images

Rahmanullah Gurbaz is coming off an 84 off 45 balls against Sri Lanka – albeit in a losing cause. He also hit an 18-ball 40 in a low-key chase in the Asia Cup opener. With a strike rate of 166.66 in the Asia Cup, the hard-hitting opener presents a serious threat to the Pakistan bowlers. He is also among a key group of players Afghanistan will be relying on to lift them up from the bottom of the Super 4 table.

Pitch and conditions

The team batting first will be looking to score big, as has been the case in two out of three matches played in Sharjah. Pakistan posted 193 against Hong Kong, and Sri Lanka chased down Afghanistan’s 175.

Team news

Rizwan, who injured his knee on Sunday, has been cleared to play by the Pakistan medical team and will keep his place both at the top of the order, and behind the wicket.Pakistan (probable): 1 Babar Azam (capt), 2 Mohammad Rizwan (wk), 3 Fakhar Zaman, 4 Iftikhar Ahmed, 5 Khushdil Shah, 6 Shadab Khan, 7 Asif Ali, 8 Mohammad Nawaz, 9 Naseem Shah, 10 Haris Rauf, 11 Mohammad HasnainAfghanistan are unlikely to make changes.Afghanistan: 1 Hazratullah Zazai, 2 Rahmanullah Gurbaz (wk), 3 Ibrahim Zadran, 4 Najibullah Zadran, 5 Mohammad Nabi (capt), 6 Karim Janat, 7 Rashid Khan, 8 Azmatullah Omarzai, 9 Naveen-ul-Haq, 10 Mujeeb-ur-Rahman, 11 Fazalhaq Farooqi.

Stats and trivia

• Pakistan have won both their T20Is against Afghanistan in the past.
• Shadab Khan’s economy rate of 5.43 is the best among Pakistan players (with a minimum of five overs) at this Asia Cup.  
• Rashid Khan has dismissed Babar five times in T20s, conceding 58 runs off 48 balls

Warwickshire retained their sliver of hope of avoiding relegation from LV=Insurance County Championship Division One with a solid start with the bat on the opening day against Hampshire at Edgbaston.First team coach Mark Robinson admitted before the match that Warwickshire need “a lot to go our way” for them to stay up. First and foremost they have to win with plentiful batting points and they laid a decent platform by reaching 138 for 2 on a day stripped of 55 overs by rain and bad light.After the first session was lost to the weather, openers Rob Yates (77 not out, 129 balls) and Dom Sibley (54, 109) added 129 in 38 overs against a Hampshire attack missing spearhead Kyle Abbot (58 Championship wickets at 19.68 this season) due to a knee injury.The visitors chose to bowl but enjoyed no early success, despite some help from the pitch. Their bowling was not bad, and a shade unlucky at times, but perhaps lacked a bit of sparkle, an understandable legacy of the shock implosion of their title challenge against Kent last week.There was no joy for Keith Barker against the team for whom he took 359 first class wickets and helped to the 2012 County Championship title. Yates was particularly fluent from the off and reached 50 from 90 balls with his tenth four, flicked through mid-wicket off Barker.The scoring rate remained reasonably brisk, as was required with Warwickshire needing every possible batting point. Sibley, on his farewell appearance at Edgbaston before rejoining Surrey, followed to his half-century from 105 balls and the pair posted Warwickshire’s first century opening stand since the first game of the season.The breakthrough finally arrived when Sibley tickled a leg-side catch to wicketkeeper Aneurin Donald off Ian Holland. Holland immediately struck again when Alex Davies offered no shot to a ball which struck off stump but Sam Hain met the hat-trick ball with the middle of a forward defensive bat and bad light soon closed back in to lop off the last 14 overs.Warwickshire are without India all-rounder Jayant Yadav, who has returned home after being called up for the Rest of India squad, but have welcomed back fast bowler Liam Norwell from injury.

Keep the umbrellas and DLS sheets handy. With the La Niña weather event back across east and south-eastern Australia, there looks to be a strong chance that rain will play a part at the T20 World Cup over the coming days, including the opening Super 12s fixture at the SCG and the India-Pakistan game in Melbourne.Australia begin their title defence against New Zealand in Sydney on Saturday evening and the Bureau of Meteorology is forecasting an 80% chance of any rain with 1 to 3mm although the wettest day is currently forecast to be Friday. “Very high (90%) chance of showers, most likely in the afternoon and evening. The chance of a thunderstorm,” it currently states about Saturday.Things look even less promising for Sunday in Melbourne where India will face Pakistan at 7pm local time. There is currently a 90% chance of any rain that day, with between 10 to 25mm forecast.A minimum of five overs is required to constitute a match and there are no reserve days during the group stages, but there are for the semi-finals and final.The weather could also play a part in the final day of the first round in Hobart on Friday with a 60% chance of showers in the afternoon and evening. Ireland face West Indies and Scotland play Zimbabwe in what could yet be vital matches to decide Super 12 spots. Hobart then continues to host matches early in the Super 12s, with showers forecast on Sunday and Monday.The final day of the first round in Geelong on Thursday is currently looking fine, with only a small chance of a shower.There is better news over the west where England face Afghanistan in Perth on Saturday with the forecast set fair for that evening.Later in October the tournament moves to Brisbane and Adelaide.In September, the Bureau of Meteorology said that this year’s La Niña event may not last all summer, but that would still not be great news for this T20 World Cup.”At the moment, this La Niña isn’t looking particularly strong and it’s looking like it will peak probably fairly early in the summer or late in the spring,” Andrew Watkins, head of long-range forecasting, told the ABC. “Which is a little bit unusual, a little bit different to the La Niñas that we’ve been seeing in recent years.”

Harry Brook’s abundant talent and simple technique mean he could be on track to replicate the worldwide, all-format success enjoyed by Virat Kohli. That is the “massive shout” that Ben Stokes, England’s Test captain, made after Brook’s second-innings hundred set up a 26-run win over Pakistan to seal the series with a game to spare in Multan.Brook is only 23 but has been discussed as one of England’s leading young batters for a number of years and made his Test debut at the end of the English summer after Jonny Bairstow’s ankle injury ruled him out of the third Test against South Africa at The Oval, having been the spare batter for the first six matches of the season.Related

• How Harry Brook aimed big, failed, and took off like a rocket

• Ollie Robinson 'considered retirement' in midst of injury-plagued English summer

• Rehan Ahmed to make Test debut in Karachi

• Harry Brook makes hay on the inside track as he takes to Pakistan like a veteran

• Mark Wood feels the ache of satisfaction after providing the speed that England need

He made 12 in his only innings on debut but blitzed his way to scores of 153 and 87 in the first Test of the series in Rawalpindi, threatening Gilbert Jessop’s 120-year record for the fastest England hundred in both innings. And after being dismissed cheaply playing what he described as “a shocking shot” in the first innings in Multan, Brook responded with a well-paced 109 in the second – the only century of the match – to pick up the Player-of-the-Match award.Brook has also played 20 T20Is, finishing September’s tour of Pakistan as England’s leading run-scorer before a quiet run of form in the T20 World Cup triumph. Currently uncapped in ODIs, he will also come into contention to bat in the middle order for the 50-over side ahead of their title defence in India next October.”After the summer he had last year, getting all the big-ups before he made his debut at the back end of the summer, to come here and put in that kind of performance again was just phenomenal,” Stokes told Sky Sports.”He’s one of those rare players that you look across all formats and you can just see him being successful everywhere. It’s a massive shout, but Virat Kohli is one of those guys where his technique is just so simple and works everywhere. The pressure that he puts back onto opposition is exactly what we’re about.”Stokes added in his post-match press conference that Brook’s form was “not a surprise” to him. “The expectation on his shoulders coming into this team, because of how good he’s been for Yorkshire, was obviously huge,” he said. “But I think that just shows that kind of stuff doesn’t really affect him.”He’s a player whose technique is suited to all three formats, he wants to always look to be putting pressure back onto the opposition, and he’s won another game for England. [He made a] huge contribution last week, and the hundred he scored here was obviously massive for us in getting that big lead.Ben Stokes said Harry Brook is “a pretty simple lad to captain”•Matthew Lewis/Getty Images

“He’s a pretty simple lad to captain: he just gets about his business, loves his batting, wants to constantly improve, constantly work on it. He’s a pretty easy bloke to have in your dressing room.”Brook was caught at mid-off for nine in the first innings, looking to hit debutant spinner Abrar Ahmed back over his head for six, but tempered his attacking instincts in the early stages of England’s second innings. After facing 41 balls, he had only scored 13 runs, but he gradually went through the gears to bring up a 137-ball century on the third morning.”I was pretty disappointed with my first-innings dismissal,” Brook told the BBC’s . “It was a shocking shot, to be quite honest. I wanted to learn from that. I went out there and tried to play the ball on its merit as much as possible. Obviously, I defended a few more balls than I have done in the last couple of weeks.”I felt good out there: long may it continue. I don’t like to look too far ahead. I like to stay in the moment and just play in the next game. All I’m focused on now is enjoying this win and then concentrating on next week.”His form since coming into the side means that England will face a middle-order logjam when Bairstow returns to fitness, which could come in time for their two-match series in New Zealand in February. With Ben Foakes left out of the second Test for Ollie Pope, who took the keeping gloves, it could be that Bairstow keeps wicket on his return after a significant period as a specialist batter.”We’re very, very lucky with the way in which we can replace Jonny, to have Harry coming in, because those two, batting No. 5, they both go about it in exactly the same way,” Stokes said. “They bring so much to the team and obviously Harry playing the way he has done at the moment with Jonny not being in the team, unfortunately, it’s the best thing you want.”You want competition for places, you want a strong squad to be able to pick from, and you want those headaches when it comes to the final XI every week, rather than saying ‘I’m not sure who we’re going to pick, let’s pick a name out of the hat.’ We’re definitely not in that situation, and we feel like we’ve got all bases covered at the moment.”

Tristan Stubbs, Marco Jansen, Bjorn Fortuin, Sisanda Magala and Ryan Rickelton have been added to South Africa’s expanded list of centrally contracted players for the 2023-24 season. Cricket South Africa has made provision for four more players, increasing the list from 16 to 20.Heinrich Klaasen, who was upgraded during the past season, also keeps his new grade, while Wayne Parnell has been contracted for the first time since returning from his Kolpak deal in 2021. Three players have lost their deals from the last contracting cycle: Janneman Malan and Andile Phehlukwayo have been dropped off the central contracts list and Dwaine Pretorius has retired.Though CSA’s director of cricket, Enoch Nkwe, had initially indicated a split-contracting system, this was not specifically announced. Instead, Nkwe said the increased number of contracts was created to allow for single-format players to get national deals. “The number of contracted players has increased from 16 to 20 this season to ensure that we have a wider pool of white-ball specialists and Test players. We look forward to seeing them compete at the highest level in what is an important next 12 months for the limited-overs and Test sides, with the [ODI] World Cup taking place later this year as well as the start of the new World Test Championship (WTC) cycle.”On the list, Quinton de Kock and David Miller are white-ball players only, with both having announced their retirement from red-ball cricket in previous years, while Dean Elgar and Keegan Petersen have only played for South Africa in Tests. The rest of the players on the list play in all formats at domestic level and would be in contention for national selection on that basis. There was some suggestion that de Kock and Elgar would walk away from international cricket soon but their re-contracting suggests they have committed to South African cricket for another 12 months.South Africa are currently playing their last Test of the 2021-2023 WTC cycle, where they could finish third, and will not play in whites until hosting India in December. For the rest of the year, their focus is on white-ball cricket, with the team yet to secure automatic qualification for this year’s 50-over World Cup. They play Netherlands in two must-win World Cup Super League matches on March 31 and April 2. South Africa will then go into a winter break – which may be interrupted by World Cup qualifying in Zimbabwe in June – and then play Australia in white-ball matches at home in August-September.The national women’s contracts are expected to be announced later this month.South Africa men’s contracts listTemba Bavuma, Quinton de Kock, Dean Elgar, Bjorn Fortuin, Reeza Hendricks, Heinrich Klaasen, Marco Jansen, Sisanda Magala, Keshav Maharaj, Aiden Markram, David Miller, Lungi Ngidi, Anrich Nortje, Wayne Parnell, Keegan Petersen, Kagiso Rabada, Ryan Rickelton, Tabraiz Shamsi, Tristan Stubbs, Rassie van der Dussen.

Charlotte Taylor, the star of Southern Vipers’ first Rachael Heyhoe Flint Trophy title, has earned a six-month professional contract with the club.Some two-and-a-half years since her 6 for 34 spun Vipers to victory over Northern Diamonds in the inaugural final of the competition, Taylor joins four other players on six-month deals announced on Tuesday as the club’s list of professional women’s players swelled to 16, compared with six when Taylor started out with the club in 2020.Fellow spinner Nancy Harman, allrounder Alice Monaghan and wicket-keepers Chloe Hill and Rhianna Southby were also awarded six-month elite domestic professional contracts for the first time. Along with Taylor, they join seven other players with existing elite professionals deals with the club, plus four Vipers players – Danni Wyatt, Lauren Bell, Charlie Dean and Freya Kemp – on England contracts.Related

• Charlotte Taylor spins Southern Vipers to victory on back of Georgia Adams' 80

• Charlotte's web of intrigue no surprise to her namesake

Adam Carty, Regional Director of Women’s Cricket at The Ageas Bowl, said the new deals came after he, Vipers head coach Charlotte Edwards, and senior support staff had recognised the hard work the recipients had put in over the English winter.”I am delighted to be in the privileged position to be able to award these professional contracts to a group of players who have demonstrated professional characteristics and attitudes in every way but contract status this winter,” Carty said. “With a massive summer ahead that will see more matches, a greater competitive challenge from an ever-improving opposition pool and, no doubt, a fluctuation in player availability, we will need a deep and meaningful squad to remain at the forefront of the elite domestic scene.”Monaghan and Taylor have been part of the Southern Vipers’ set-up since it became a regional hub in 2020 as part of a pivotal restructure of the domestic women’s game, having risen through the ranks at Hampshire.Taylor, who was just five matches into her career when she made her presence felt in that 2020 RHFT final while also working in customer service for an aerospace company supplying parts for helicopters, said her new professional contract would allow her to focus solely on her sporting career this season.”I am delighted to have been awarded a contract with the Vipers,” Taylor said. “It means I can focus fully on my cricket for the summer and not have to juggle a full-time job for the first time. I cannot wait for the season to arrive and hopefully I can contribute to some silverware this year.”Monaghan and leg-spinner Harman have represented London Spirit in The Hundred, playing under the captaincy of Vipers team-mate Dean. Monaghan said: “I’m so excited to be given this opportunity. This will allow me to elevate my game to the next level, and I can put in some performances to contribute to the Vipers having another successful season.”Hill, who also captains Worcestershire, spent the 2022 season on loan to the Vipers from Central Sparks before making a permanent move at the end of the year having scored 111 runs in five innings for the Vipers with a best of 55, while Southby joined from South East Stars in November last year.Vipers, who also defeated Northern Diamonds in the 2021 RHFT final before losing to the same opposition by just two runs in last year’s title decider, begin their 2023 season when they host Sunrisers at The Ageas Bowl on April 22. Sunrisers are yet to win a match in the RHFT and have won just one of their fixtures in the Charlotte Edwards Cup, in which Vipers are the defending champions.

Yorkshire have signed New Zealand fast bowler Will O’Rourke for the Vitality Blast. He will be available for the first eight group games, with an option to extend his deal depending on international commitments.O’Rourke, 23, has played all formats for his country with impressive returns since first being capped in 2023. In all T20 cricket, he has taken 35 wickets at an average of 24.94 and an economy 7.82.His stint with Yorkshire will be his first in domestic cricket outside of New Zealand, and he spoke to Kane Williamson, who played for Yorkshire between 2013 and 2018, about the move.”I spoke with Kane [Williamson] about the prospect of signing for Yorkshire and he was effusive in his praise for the club and the Yorkshire supporters,” he said. “Everyone around the world knows of Yorkshire CCC and I’ll be proud to wear the white rose when I arrive.”Related

• Yorkshire sign Sutherland for Blast and Championship stint

• Sussex sign Australian Sandhu on two-month deal

• Ashton Turner joins Lancashire for Blast group stage

Yorkshire announced the signing of Will Sutherland for the entire Blast group stage earlier in the week, but O’Rourke’s availability was reduced by the fact New Zealand are touring Zimbabwe in July and August, playing all three formats. He could, however, return for the Blast knockouts in September, if Yorkshire qualify.Anthony McGrath, Yorkshire’s head coach, said that O’Rourke, at 6ft 4in, would provide a “point of difference” to the team’s attack in T20.McGrath said: “As soon as we were aware that there was potential to bring Will into the club, we knew we wanted to confirm it as soon as possible.”With his frame and height, he has a release point which will provide a key point of difference for our attack. He’s young, hungry to succeed and able to extract both pace and bounce from all types of pitches.”Gavin Hamilton, Yorkshire’s general manager of cricket, said: “Signing a player of Will’s calibre is signal of our intent for this season. He was one of the standout stars of the last year and he showed his ability against England over the winter.”A bowler like Will who can hit the deck hard complements the rest of our squad well. This is a signing that should really excite all our members and supporters, and I’m delighted he will be joining us this year.”

New Zealand kept their ODI record against Pakistan spotless as they eased to a 43-run win to seal a 3-0 series sweep.After a nearly-two-hour delay to the start because of a wet outfield owing to overnight rain in Mount Maunganui, Michael Bracewell and Rhys Mariu’s half-centuries got New Zealand up to 264 in 42 overs. Pakistan made a slow start amid a freak injury to Imam-ul-Haq, and while there were contributions right down the order led by a Babar Azam half-century, New Zealand never let Pakistan get on top of the asking rate. Five more wickets for Ben Sears saw New Zealand regularly chip away as Pakistan folded for 221.For the third successive game, Mohammad Rizwan won the toss and decided to put New Zealand in. Naseem Shah came in for the concussed Haris Rauf and had an immediate impact, squaring Nick Kelly up to get an early wicket. But New Zealand consolidated with a 78-run stand between Mariu and Henry Nicholls, even if it wasn’t quite as explosive as New Zealand have been in the first powerplay this series.ESPNcricinfo Ltd

Sufiyan Muqeem was introduced somewhat late in the game, but struck almost immediately, getting a fluid Mariu out for a half-century as he tried to sweep. But New Zealand continued to work their way through the innings sedately, building one partnership after another; five of the top six scored between 26 and 59. Tim Seifert and Daryl Mitchell combined for another 61-run stand as they geared up to give the lower-middle order a platform for a big finish.It was captain Bracewell who made good on that platform in a blistering innings. He started slowly after coming in with just under 11 overs to go, but when he launched Mohammad Wasim over fine leg in the 34th over, it would be the first of a half-dozen sixes off his bat. Akif Javed bore the brunt of the punishment, plundered for 18 in the following over as Bracewell hared towards his half-century. It would come in the final over of the innings with a fifth six of the innings against Akif; he would smash one more before Akif finally got his man off the last ball of the innings. It was his fourth wicket, but having smashed 59 off 40, Bracewell had what he wanted from his knock.New Zealand’s quicks were tight up top once more and strangled Pakistan early, but the early stages of the game were defined by the injury to Imam. He nudged Will O’Rourke and set off for a single, but the throw at his end bounced up awkwardly and ended up lodging itself in the grill of Imam’s helmet. Imam went down immediately as the physio raced on. Extensive treatment followed as it became clear Imam would struggle to continue. He would be bandaged and wheeled off on a stretcher, with Usman Khan his concussion substitute.Imam-ul-Haq was forced to retire hurt after a blow on the jaw from the outfield•Getty Images

Abdullah Shafique and Babar were steady through the early stages of the chase, but never as brisk as was required of them. Shafique’s innings was typically punctuated by quality shot-making, a pick-up of O’Rourke towards midwicket perhaps the highlight, but 33 off 56 was a truer indicator of how few and far between such aggression was. He failed to get on top of a short ball from Sears to give Jacob Duffy a comfortable catch in the deep; by now, the asking rate was approaching eight.Usman’s innings ended with a moment of brilliance in the field from Bracewell – of the sort that has become their hallmark. Usman looked uncomfortable against the short ball as ever and skied one off Muhammad Abbas. Bracewell dashed in from midwicket, and it always looked like the ball would land just short, but a dive at full stretch saw him pluck the ball inches off the ground.In a dagger blow to Pakistan, Babar followed swifty after, clipping one to deep midwicket immediately after bringing up his half-century. It became something of a theme for the innings; each of the top seven reached double-figures without making a more meaningful contribution to the chase. The captain Rizwan was the most proactive, looking good through a breezy 32-ball 37, but with wickets falling at the other end, Pakistan needed a bit more meat on the bones of that innings. But Duffy cleverly changed his pace and drew a miscue from him, leaving Pakistan a further 96 to win in just 56 with the top half back in the hut.ESPNcricinfo Ltd

In the second game, the bottom half had bailed Pakistan out of an embarrassing defeat, primarily led by Faheem Ashraf. There would be no rescue act from the allrounder this time, Bracewell striking as he sliced to Seifert who took a sharp catch, and Naseem was only good for a brief cameo before the returning Sears put a stop to it.By now, Pakistan’s hopes of victory were realistically over, and Sears made hay, taking three off the last four wickets – including the final one – to help himself to a second consecutive five-wicket haul. There was brief drama at the end of a long day when the lights went out just as Duffy was about to deliver to Tayyab Tahir, fighting a lone if purposeless hand at the end of the innings. When the lights came back on, though, he was gone next ball, and it would be under bright lights that New Zealand sealed glory, plunging Pakistan into ever-deepening gloom as they ended a miserable tour on a feeble note.

Rory Burns was one of three Surrey half-centurions as the defending champions took a first-innings lead against visitors Somerset on day two at the Kia Oval.The Brown Caps skipper struck 10 boundaries in a fluent 76, sharing a first-wicket stand of 129 with fellow former England opener Dom Sibley (53), who passed 50 for the fifth time in six innings this season.England wicketkeeper Jamie Smith was the third to reach his half-ton with 58 as the hosts reached 321 for 7 at stumps.Somerset’s bowlers recovered from a morning where they bowled too full a length, skipper Lewis Gregory leading the way with three for 46, including a double strike with the second new ball, as four wicket fell in the final sessionHaving bowled out Somerset for 283 on the cusp of stumps on day one, Burns and Sibley enjoyed a morning of dominance as they begun Surrey’s reply.Save for the odd ball which bounced a little for those bowling from the Vauxhall End and the odd lbw shout, Burns moved serenely along, Somerset’s bowlers guilty of straying onto the pads too often to feed his trademark shot through mid-wicket. In fact, anything pitched up was quickly seized on by the 34 year-old left-hander as he raced to 50 from 77 balls.As ever Sibley’s progress was sedate but rock solid, the pair reaching lunch one short of the century stand.If anything, Burns looked even better post lunch, driving with authority to move into the 70s and he appeared destined for a century before Josh Davey produced the ball of the day to remove him.Bowling around the wicket, Davey extracted bounce and while Burns did everything right, trying to drop his hands, the ball followed him and smacked off the top glove for Kasey Aldridge to pouch the catch at slip.Ollie Pope didn’t detain us for long, bowled by skipper Gregory trying to cut a ball too close to him, but Smith came out bristling with aggression and began with a flurry of boundaries.Sibley, the rock around whom others express themselves became barnacle-like even by his standards, failing to hit a boundary after lunch.He reached a fifth 50 in 151 balls, but even he ran out of patience, uncharacteristically charging England spinner Jack Leach and being beaten in the flight. His ugly wahoo failed to make contact and he’d have been stumped had the ball not cannoned into the stumps.The deceleration was catching with Smith slowly grinding to a halt despite his continued best efforts to hit the cover off the ball. He too would make it to his half-century before his innings ended tamely a mis-timed pull off Aldridge only travelling as far as Gregory at mid-on.By this stage Ben Foakes was in flow, the diminutive wicketkeeper employing his wristy shots to good effect, sending successive deliveries from Leach to the fence at point. However, with 50 in sight he was undone by a beauty from back of a length by Gregory with the second new ball which nipped between bat and pad to pluck out the off-stump.There was further reward for Gregory when Ryan Patel fell cheaply to a superbly judged tumbling catch at long-leg by Leach and Jordan Clark edged behind before the close to limit the home side’s advantage.

Cameron Green is unlikely to play any Sheffield Shield cricket before his County Championship stint with Gloucestershire as he continues to recover from back surgery.Speaking at the Australian Cricket Awards last month Green had flagged that his recovery was on track to have him available for Western Australia’s final Shield match against Victoria on March 15 as a batter only. But despite returning to the nets and hitting balls regularly over recent weeks, ESPNcricinfo understands that he is unlikely to be cleared to play before the end of the Australian domestic summer. WA are not expecting him to be available for the contest with Victoria or the Shield final if they qualify.Green has to get regular scans on his back to check on his progress before returning to play, having undergone spine surgery in October. Green’s first match back is likely to be in division two of the County Championship for Gloucestershire against Kent in Canterbury on April 18.Related

• Morris set for rare back-to-back Shield games as WA press for another final

• Mystery benefactor clinches Cameron Green's Gloucestershire deal

• Green out for the season as he takes surgery option

Green has signed a five-game deal with Gloucestershire thanks to the help of a “significant donation” from one of the club’s members. Those five matches are against Kent (twice), Leicestershire, Lancashire and Northamptonshire prior to the WTC final at Lord’s. However, it remains to be seen whether Cricket Australia’s medical staff allow him to play five straight first-class matches leading into the WTC final coming off no cricket since September and no first-class cricket in 13 months, despite the fact he will not be bowling in any of them.Green is in the frame to play in the WTC final in June as a batter only having played all 28 of his Tests to-date as an allrounder. Australia also have a three-Test tour of the Caribbean starting late June, but he will not be available to bowl until later in the year in the build-up to the home Ashes series which starts in late November.His availability as a batter only will create a selection squeeze in Australia’s line-up. Green made 174 not out in his second last Test match batting at No. 4 but Steven Smith’s triumphant return to that spot means Green will have to bat somewhere else if he plays in the WTC final against South Africa.Travis Head will also return to No. 5 after opening in Australia’s most recent Tests in Sri Lanka, meaning Australia will need another opener to partner Usman Khawaja. Sam Konstas is in the frame to return after missing selection in Sri Lanka and is keen to play in the County Championship but is yet to secure a deal.Green could possibly bat at No. 3 or No. 6 but that would displace either Marnus Labuschagne or Beau Webster. If the latter were to be left out, it would leave Australia without a fourth seam option, although that may not be a major consideration for a one-off Test in England in June. Josh Inglis’ recent run-spree across all formats makes him an enticing selection prospect for the final as well. Australia do not need to name a 15-man squad until May.