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Smith and Head build Australia’s lead over West Indies after Green steadies ship

Second Test, D3: Australia 286 and 221-7; West Indies 253 Smith (71), Green (52) and Head (39) shine on rain-affected day Finally, in a helter-skelter series, something approaching a normal day’s Test cricket took place. In the second Test against West Indies in Grenada, Australia added 209 for five after resuming at a vulnerable 12 for two, taking their overall lead out to 254. The normality of the score is masked by the fact that several tropical rain delays kept play to 58.3 overs, so a full day’s play would likely have seen Australia bowled out and West Indies at least commencing the fourth innings. As it is, this match will now make it into a fourth day. It was Cameron Green and Steve Smith who created that sense of normality, after the nightwatch Nathan Lyon hung around for almost an hour before nicking Alzarri Joseph to third slip on eight. The fact that John Campbell held the catch in a faulty cordon was a boost for West Indies, but Green and Smith tamped that back down. Green had the occasional problem, with an inside edge past the stumps or a sharply lifting ball, but produced the most convincing innings of his brief foray to No 3 in the batting order, moving to 52 with the occasional powerful cut shot, and otherwise a lot of forward defence and working the ball around. Continue reading...

28 minutes ago

‘You don’t just have to win or lose’: Trescothick admits draw in England’s thoughts for final day

England 77-3 in pursuit of unlikely 608 for victory ‘It’ll be a challenging day,’ says assistant coach Finally, the D word has entered England’s vocabulary. While Marcus Trescothick, the assistant coach, said the team “are always trying to be as positive as we can”, in the face of needing 536 runs with seven wickets standing to beat India on the final day, he acknowledged: “You don’t have to just win or lose.” A dressing room that is normally fixated on winning is finally coming to terms with a different result – not defeat, but a draw. As the final day at Edgbaston dawns on Sunday, the prospect of victory will be laughably remote, with India’s seamers in form and still fresh and England pursuing a target fully 190 higher than anything that has been successfully chased in the entire history of Test cricket. Continue reading...

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England Vitality Blast

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United Arab Emirates Abu Dhabi T20 Counties Super Cup

England Vitality Blast

United Arab Emirates Abu Dhabi T20 Counties Super Cup

England Vitality Blast