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Following their great escape in the first unofficial test match the Zimbabwean bowlers have continued where they left off in Kurunegala. Sri Lanka, who won the toss and elected to bat, struggled against the miserly bowling of the visitors on a turning pitch at De Zoysa Stadium and were bowled out for just 212.The Zimbabwean players have immediately responded to the coach’s request for greater discipline in the bowling after the Kurunegala test match. Even the opening bowlers, who have been extremely expensive in the tour so far, acquiesced by bowling a tighter line and shorter length. The spinners – Peacock, Rennie and Price – continued the good work, although initially they bowled a little too flat and fast for this dry, turning wicket.Kumar Sangakkara held the innings together for the Sri Lankans with a fine 90 off 195 balls. The left handed wicket-keeper played a businesslike innings for his team. Unlike the present Sri Lankan wicketkeeper, Romesh Kaluwitharana, he appears a watchful and patient batsmen. Nevertheless he was prepared to attack the bowlers when given the opportunity and hit a total of 12 boundaries. He was though lucky to survive two chances: a catch down the leg-side in the50th over and a run-out chance after he slipped in the middle of the wicket.Apart from Sangakkara and Upeka Fernando (46), who shared a third wicket partnership of 99, the Sri Lankan batsmen failed to apply themselves nor show the kind of intensity and commitment that one has come to expect from Sri Lankan sides during the last few months.When play commenced in the morning session there was still some moisture in the wicket for the faster bowlers to exploit. Bowling straighter and shorter than they have previously in the tour the opening bowlers, Mackay (1-14) and Muntendera (3-28), induced an unusually cautious start by the Sri Lankan openers, Ian Daniels (10) and Shantha Kalavitigoda (5). Having scored just 19 off the first 12 overs Ian Daniels tried to ball a short delivery from Mutendera but only succeeded in hitting it straight up in the air for a returncatch. Three balls later Kalavitigoda followed his partner back to thedressing room after he popped up a catch for Greg Lamb at short leg.Upeka Fernando and Kumar Sagarakkara then set out repairing the early damage. Patiently and slowly they played themselves in before accelerating after the lunch interval. After the break Upeka decided to be more aggressive and started to attack the Zimbabwean bowlers. Immediately the Zimbabwean’s decided on a policy of control. The spinners speared the ball into the legs of the batsmen and packed the leg-side with fielders.However when the partnership was eventually broken, Fernando was caught behind whilst attempting to cut Price, the spinners became more offensive. Now prepared to flight the ball more to the new batsmen they started to extract considerable spin for the first day of a three-day match.Wickets then started to fall at regular intervals. Jehan Mubarak (11) chipped a return catch back to Peacock in the 59th over and Damika Sudharshana (4) was bowled by Price in the 66th. Suresh Perera, making his representative comeback after injury, was caught at short leg, the victim of a well flighted off break from Peacock that turned enough to catch the inside edge. Sangakkara finally perished when he skied a simple catch to Mackay and mid-off.At the end the Sri Lankan tail-enders decided enjoy themselves in the pleasant evening sunshine with a few lusty blows off the spinners. This was promptly put to an end by the Zimbabwean captain who decided to take the new ball. Mutendera finishing off the innings with two quick wickets.

Newcastle United continue their unbeaten run in the Premier League in a revival which has now seen the side pull themselves away from the relegation zone, creating a seven-point gap between themselves in 14th and the drop zone.

The Magpies worked hard to hold onto all three points against Brighton at St James’ Park on Saturday, scoring their two goals within the first 15 minutes before forced to spend the rest of the game defending their lead. It became a tighter challenge when Graham Potter’s side finally broke down the Newcastle defence, with Lewis Dunk finding the net in the 55th minute.

Eddie Howe’s team ultimately claimed all three points, but it wasn’t a comfortable win by any means, with certain players failing to impose themselves effectively throughout. For instance, Chris Wood struggled to have an influence yet again.

Newcastle’s January signing is yet to score for his new club, and while other attacking threats able to convert their chances on Saturday, the former Burnley forward got away with his lack of goals. However, it is hard to ignore just how ineffective Wood was against Brighton.

According to SofaScore, the £5.4m-rated flop lost the ball with every 1.9 touches, had zero shots, failed with 100% of his dribbles and lost 65% of his duels, which will be disappointing for Howe as the side continue to challenge for safety in the Premier League this season.

Luckily for Newcastle, they don’t seem to be missing a talented striker at the moment due to the attacking threat being distributed throughout the team, while the creativity on the wings have been helping to rack up the points needed for them to escape the nerves of a relegation fight in the remaining months. However, the return of Callum Wilson is one which will surely be highly anticipated by the fans, especially since Wood has not been able to find his shooting boots so far on Tyneside.

Howe will be hoping that his team can continue to climb the table with confidence, as they travel to the south coast next Thursday to play Southampton.

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If they can pick up a fifth win in six, it would put Newcastle in a very good position to be taken out of the conversation when it comes to a relegation battle, as they could be 10 points clear of the drop depending on results.

In other news: One of Wood’s team-mates almost cost his side victory against Brighton

Cricket has lost one of its greatest friends with the death of former Warwickshire player Jack Bannister. He was 85.Bannister enjoyed a fine career as a player and journalist, but it was perhaps his role in establishing the Professional Cricketers’ Association – the players’ union in England – that will prove to have the greatest ramifications.He attended the organisation’s inaugural meeting and went on to serve it for 20 years as secretary and then as chairman and president. Having helped establish a standard employment contract and minimum wage for cricketers, he then set to work establishing their first pension system. Later he helped negotiate a solution when some counties were keen to ban players who had appeared in Packer’s World Series.The roots of better salaries, freedom of movement and more equitable terms and conditions for players all grew from those roots. The players of today owe Bannister and his colleagues a great deal.A medium-fast seamer, Bannister was a good enough player to take 1,198 first-class wickets over a 20-year career at an average of 21.91. His figures of 10 for 41, taken against Combined Services in 1959, remain the best innings figures taken by a Warwickshire bowler, while he also claimed 9 for 35 against Yorkshire in 1955. He featured in the Warwickshire sides that won the County Championship in 1951 and the Gillette Cup in 1966. He retired at the end of the 1969 season; the year in which the Sunday League was introduced.He established a successful chain of bookmakers during the later years of his playing career but, once his broadcasting career blossomed, relinquished control of the business to his daughter.He had started to write for the during the latter years of his playing career – a relationship that was to endure for 40 years – and subsequently enjoyed a distinguished career as broadcaster and writer with the BBC and TalkSPORT. He was chairman of The Cricket Writers’ Club between 1994 and 1996.He referred to Richie Benaud as his “best friend in life” and, every week from 1987 – when Bannister joined Benaud in the BBC TV commentary box – to three-weeks before Benaud’s death in April 2015, the pair exchanged racing tips. Golf was another great passion they shared.”There is no denying that every cricketer owes Jack a huge debt of gratitude because he was one of the pioneers who were responsible for laying the foundations for the organisation we have now,” Jason Ratcliffe, the assistant chief executive of the PCA and chairman of the Warwickshire Old County Cricketers’ Association, said.”Jack was always a players’ man and he worked tirelessly to improve pay and conditions for players during his long association with the PCA.”He was a fantastic cricketer with an outstanding record for Warwickshire. After he retired from playing, Jack became an influential figure in the broadcasting box from where he continued to promote the game he loved. Everyone at the PCA is very saddened to hear the news of Jack’s death and our thoughts go to his family, many friends and colleagues.”Wolverhampton born, Bannister’s family moved to Birmingham and he gained entry to King Edward’s School Five Ways through the 11+.

Mahela Jayawardene praised his bowlers’ performance at the ICC World Twenty20 © AFP

Sri Lankan captain Mahela Jayawardene has said that if his country was to make any headway in the Twenty20 format, the Sri Lankan cricket authorities must plan out a proper structure for it domestically.”Twenty20 is something unique and provides a lot of challenges to cricketers,” said Jayawardene. “If we are to go forward we need to play more Twenty20 cricket domestically at a highly competitive level, not just clubs competing with each other day in and day out.”We have to look into getting the best players involved and have a high quality tournament,” he said. “Twenty20 is going to be a part of the international calendar, so we need to develop specialist players for this type of game.”Jayawardene said that with every game Sri Lanka played in the inaugural ICC World Twenty20, they learnt a lot.”Hopefully we should get a few more good cricketers coming through this system who will be really good Twenty20 players. Guys who are in the middle should be able to handle tough situations, not panic, be cool-headed and have confidence in what they are doing and bat according to situations. Bowlers with a lot of talent and variation who can adapt to different conditions will also come into play.Jayawardene stated that it was disappointing that his team won only one of their three matches in the Super Eights, against Bangladesh, but had words of praise for his bowlers.”We started off very well and we had our chances, but we made a few mistakes especially in the batting department. We never batted to our potential. We tried to do too many things which were not in our control,” he told the . “If we had stuck to our strengths and batted accordingly we probably would have given a better account of ourselves.”He praised his bowlers’ performance at the Twenty20 event. “The bowlers bowled really well throughout the tournament. Even without Murali [Muttiah Muralitharan] they put their hands up and performed really well. Credit should go to them.”Jayawardene was of the opinion that the ICC would not allow Twenty20 to replace the fifty-over game.”Twenty20 has been brought in to get in more crowds for the game. We need to strike a proper balance between Test cricket, one-day cricket and Twenty20. That’s the right way to go about it. The more we play Twenty20 the more we get kids involved. It’s obviously good for the game, but the real challenge for individual professional cricketers would be Test cricket and one-day cricket to test their capabilities.”Twenty20 cricket will develop individual skills. It will improve the one-day version just as one-day cricket improved Test cricket – run-scoring became faster, and Tests became more interesting and result oriented. I’m sure Twenty20 will have the same impact on one-day cricket as well.”

Wellington v Central Districts Day 4
In a repeat of the result of last year’s final, Central Districts beat Wellington outright.Chasing a modest 227 on a wicket that offered the seamers encouragement throughout, Central stuttered briefly but always looked favourites to get there.Opener Geoff Barnett laid the foundation with a gritty 78. Nobody else in the top order passed 20 until Ewen Thompson, batting at number eight, scored 40 from 43 balls, including two sixes. The importance of his knock can not be downplayed. Thompson came to the crease at the dismissal of Barnett with Central teetering slightly at 167 for 6. However, his boldness and Bevan Griggs’ resilience (19 not out from 48 balls), guided Central to maximum points. Griggs finished with a useful match double after scoring 58 in the first innings. He also took five catches behind the stumps in Wellington’s second innings.James Franklin and Test hopeful Mark Gillespie took three wickets each, though Gillespie was expensive in the context of this match.Auckland v Otago Day 3
Auckland’s burst of four wickets late on the second evening looks more and more like an anomaly as the runs pile up at this batter-friendly venue.Neil Broom and Gareth Hopkins took their fifth-wicket partnership through to 219 before Broom fell to Chris Martin for 112.Wicketkeeper Hopkins continued on his merry way, securing a century after 199 balls and a few nervous moments on 99. He was ably supported by Lancastrian Kyle Hogg who must have walked out to bat with some trepidation after failing to score on a similar batsman’s paradise during the first round match against Canterbury.As it is there must be a few red faces among Otago’s top order after such a pitiful collapse.When rain stopped play late in the day, Hogg was on 53 and Hopkins 139 – but then Otage declared, which could prove an imaginative decision.Canterbury v Northern Districts Day 3
Northern have only Daniel Vettori’s allround abilities to thank for this match continuing into the fourth day.Vettori propped up a disappointing Northern effort with 86 – he was last man out – as the visitors collapsed against Shane Bond.Bond, playing his first match for the province this season, took 5 for 37 off 19.3 well-directed overs to decimate a Northern side that began the innings just two runs adrift of Canterbury.They soon found themselves marooned at 81 for 6, Hamish Marshall giving more headaches to the New Zealand selectors with his 19-ball innings of 1.Vettori was supported by Peter McGlashan who eked out a painstaking 13 from 65 deliveries before falling to Craig McMillan.

Inzamam-ul-Haq: unwilling to goto Australia for the ICC Awards or Captains’ Conference © AFP

Still annoyed with ICC selectors for overlooking him from the Super Series World XI squad against Australia, Inzamam-ul-Haq, Pakistan captain, today said he will not travel to Australia next month for the Captains’ Conference and the second ICC Annual Awards.Inzamam told PTI, “I have not yet made up my mind if I would play in the Super Series if given a late ticket, but I have definitely decided not to travel to Australia for Captains’ Conference and ICC Annual Awards. I have conveyed my decision to the concerned authorities.”Inzamam’s decision came a day after the Pakistan Cricket Board said it would back the captain if he decides to skip the Australian tour. Inzamam’s decision has also strengthened apprehensions that he might turn down a late invitation from the ICC to represent the World XI in place of an injured Sachin Tendulkar or Herschelle Gibbs.”I don’t think it would be a wise decision to take a long flight to and from Sydney for the Captains’ Conference when the same time can be better utilised to prepare for the home series against England. That is far more important than anything at the moment.”Michael Vaughan’s side, fresh from their Ashes success against Australia, arrive in Pakistan on October 26 for a three-Test and five-ODI series. When England last toured Pakistan in 2000, they won the three-Test series 1-0 while Pakistan clinched the ODI seriesInzamam added, “Instead of undergoing flight hazards, I have decided to pencil down my suggestions, opinions and recommendations and hand them over to the PCB so that they can forward them to the ICC.”Inzamam said it was a great honour for him to be nominated for three ICC awards. “I don’t think that I will win any award for the simple reason that if I get any award, it would be embarrassing for the selectors and I don’t think the ICC would put its selectors in a situation where they are left with no hiding place. Don’t you agree that it would be a bad publicity for the ICC or its selectors if winner of any of the three awards is originally overlooked from its World XI?”Inzamam, who averages over 50 in ODIs and 94.67 in Tests this year, has been nominated for Player of the Year, Test Player of the Year and ODI Player of the Year awards.

Murali faces a lengthy spell on the sidelines after surgery on his injured shoulder© Getty Images

Muttiah Muralitharan will undergo surgery on his injured right shoulder in Melbourne on Monday, and may be out of cricket for four months. He flew to Australia on Thursday night to see David Young, a shoulder specialist who has treated him before, and Young told him that unless he had surgery, a cyst in his shoulder could permanently weaken his bowling arm.”We’ve advised him to have the surgery. Otherwise, if it gets worse, it could threaten his career,” said Young. The surgery will treat a superior labrum anterior-posterior (SLAP) lesion, which in layman’s terms is a type of cyst which has caused a build-up of fluid around the nerves in his right shoulder. The problem developed because of the huge amount Muralitharan has bowled during his career. He has bowled more than 5000 overs in Tests alone.Murali has complained of pain in his shoulder for several months, and bowled with discomfort in the drawn first Test against South Africa earlier this month, although he still picked up five wickets to edge ahead of Shane Warne in their scrap for the Test bowling record. However, with Murali, who has 532 Test wickets to his name, unlikely to play again before a series against New Zealand in December this year, Warne has a chance to reclaim the record, and build a lead. Australia play four Tests against India in October, followed by two against New Zealand and three against Pakistan at home.Muralitharan remained philosophical about his injury setback, telling reporters on Saturday: “Nothing is certain in life. I think other people have to have a share. Shane Warne is a wonderful bowler and he should also have the record.” Warne, who had a similar surgery in 2000, drew level with Muralitharan when Australia played Sri Lanka last month, but has never held the record outright.

All Today’s Yesterdays – August 9 down the yearsAugust 8 | August 101992
The last day of Test cricket for David Gower, bowled for 1 by Waqar Younis in the second innings as Pakistan won by ten wickets at The Oval to take the series 2-1. In the previous two Tests, Gower had scored 73 and 31 not out – so there seemed to be something personal in Graham Gooch’s decision not to take him to India that winter, an omission that did England no good. Gower’s languidly brilliant shotmaking brought him 8231 Test runs, an England record broken shortly afterwards by … Gooch himself.1991
The day Ian Botham “just, just couldn’t quite get his leg over”. Botham’s hit-wicket dismissal against West Indies at The Oval sparked that comment from Jonathan Agnew, and a fit of hysterics in the Test Match Special box as Agnew and Brian Johnston fought an irresistible attack of the giggles. Johnston was still fighting for composure long after Agnew had given up the ghost, and the exchange has been replayed time and time again since.1977
As well as taking 143 Test wickets for England, Chris Old could bat a bit, as he showed in hammering a century in only 37 minutes for Yorkshire v Warwickshire at Edgbaston. He hit six sixes and 13 fours and scored his second fifty in only nine minutes.1976
In a typically powerful and merciless assault, West Indies captain Clive Lloyd scored an unbeaten 201 against Glamorgan at Swansea. Wisden called it “the fastest double century since Gilbert Jessop’s days in 1903”. In the next match of the tour, Lloyd’s side completed a 3-0 series win over England.1944
Birth of Terry Jenner, a Test legspinner who was best known for being hit on the head by England fast bowler John Snow at Sydney in 1970-71 but made a genuine contribution to Test cricket by recognising and nurturing the talent of Shane Warne.1965
Hostile fast bowler Peter Pollock completed his second five-wicket haul of the match to win the Trent Bridge Test. It was South Africa’s last Test victory in England until 1994.1926
Birth of Denis Atkinson, who took 47 Test wickets but is best remembered for his only Test hundred. Facing an Australian total of 668 at Bridgetown in 1954-55, West Indies were 146 for 7 when Atkinson was joined by Clairmonte Depeiza. Their stand of 347 was a record for the seventh wicket in first-class cricket. Atkinson scored 219 then took 5 for 65 to become the first to do that double in Tests. His brother Eric also played Test cricket.1946
Death of Ernie Vogler, one of the quartet of South African googly bowlers who toured England in 1907. The following winter, he took all ten wickets in an innings for Eastern Province – and his 36 wickets helped win the 1909-10 series against England. As far as Wisden can discover, he was the first batsman to be dismissed for a king pair in Test cricket, at Sydney in 1910-11. Some modern sources call him Bert – but one of his contemporaries, BJT Bosanquet the inventor of the googly, referred to him as Ernest.Other birthdays
1897 Ted Badcock (New Zealand)
1902 Edward “Nobby” Clark (England)
1911 Khurshed Meher-Homji (India)

The respective attitudes of competing skippers, Australia’s Steve Waugh and New Zealand’s Stephen Fleming were praised in newspapers on both sides of the Tasman as both teams made a silk purse out of a sow’s ear of their rain affected first Test at the Gabba in Brisbane yesterday.The New Zealand Herald: “Another explosive innings from Chris Cairns, who struck 43 off 37 balls, almost took the New Zealanders to the wire, but he was caught on the long-on boundary with three overs remaining and just 21 required.”Fleming said afterwards he thought New Zealand had a couple of chances to win – when he and Nathan Astle put on 100 for the fourth wicket, and when Cairns was rampaging at the end.'”I felt pretty exhilarated throughout, but in the end it was disappointing not to come away with a win, especially after getting ourselves in such a good position.'”It was a good challenge and we have no complaints – you don’t get handed test wins, and we knew we’d have to play out of our skins to earn it.'”Fleming’s counterpart, Steve Waugh, believed his side had created the best of the game-winning chances and rubbished suggestions that his bowlers had contravened the spirit of the game by bowling wide of the stumps.'”New Zealand’s bowlers pitched it pretty wide at times in our first innings, so I don’t think it was a big deal.'”Waugh said New Zealand might have thought they were going to win the match, but felt Australia had dominated the game generally, and would have been unlucky to lose.”Peter Roebuck, The Sydney Morning Herald: “A glorious cricket match ended with honours even as the Australians and New Zealanders threw themselves at each other with all their might.”Australia had the fright of their cricketing life. Under the Gabba lights and with spectators spellbound, the visiting batsmen chased hard and almost reached the end of the rainbow.”Magnificent blows from Chris Cairns and Craig McMillan took the tourists close to their target, only for prospects to recede as wild shots were played in the last couple of overs. Finally Cairns was held on the boundary and the home captain sighed the longest sigh of relief in his eventful career. At the end the teams retreated to the pavilion, bruised, blooded and unbowed.”New Zealand refused to go away and were stopped only by the stiffness of the target and the experience of their opponents.”All praise to both teams for having a go. All praise to the captains for breathing life into a game that was dying on its feet. Steve Waugh can hardly have expected the Kiwis to bat as well in pursuit of a tempting total.”The Daily Telegraph: “It was a fitting result – neither team deserved to lose but neither dominated enough to win and there was genuine warmth and respect among the sides when they shook hands after stumps.”Captains Steve Waugh and Steve Fleming can take a bow for putting the reputations of themselves and their countries on the line with last-day declarations which gave the match a wonderful finale.”The waterlogged game, which will enrich the experience of those who played in it, finished under lights at 6.20pm with a small crowd spellbound.”Chris Cairns (43) almost stole it for New Zealand when he joined Shane Lee and Carl Hooper in the exclusive club of people who have driven balls into the top deck of the Northern Stand.”He twice inflicted this treatment on Shane Warne who conceded 17 off his last over which left the Kiwis needing 21 off their last 18 balls with five wickets in hand for victory.”The Australian: “Three previous days of rain in Brisbane threatened to rob the match of any life but opposing captains Steve Waugh and Stephen Fleming deserve enormous credit for declaring to set up an enthralling and unexpected contest.”It was a spectacular chase, with Steve Waugh forced to spread the field far and wide and Glenn McGrath testing the limits of what is an off-side wide to prevent New Zealand snatching an amazing victory.”Only when the brutal Chris Cairns was well caught on the boundary by Ricky Ponting for 43 from 38 balls, having twice belted Shane Warne deliveries to the top tier of the redeveloped northern stand, could the Australians feel safe.”The Herald Sun: “There is no doubt one of the $64 questions before the Test started was whether New Zealand had the ability to bowl Australia out twice.”On the evidence offered during this rain-affected match, the Black Caps have not made ground on the Australian batsmen. This was despite the first-innings failures of Ricky Ponting, Mark Waugh, Steve Waugh and Damien Martyn.”New Zealand will have no better chance than having its rivals 6-263, yet it was still on the receiving end of a 486 first-innings scoreline.”Despite New Zealand’s failure to nail Australia when the gate had flung open late in the second-innings run chase, there is a positive culture within a squad that has had no alternative other than to learn the hard way.”Robert Craddock, The Herald Sun: “They don’t have many big names, they don’t do much big talking. They haven’t got the greatest record and they don’t win all that often.”But there is one thing you simply have to give the New Zealand cricket team – it’s got guts.”Quite frankly, its attitude puts England to shame.”Both teams deserve great credit for the show they put on yesterday, proving it is not a crime to risk losing a cricket game in the hope of winning it.”You sense Australia will learn more from yesterday’s experience than it did in all five Tests against the West Indies last summer.”Waugh’s declaration dragged players out of their comfort zone, which is the very philosophy the captain and the coach are all about.”

Leeds United’s new manager Jesse Marsch would have been hoping for a better result in his first Premier League game in charge of the club since replacing Marcelo Bielsa last Monday.

Having travelled to the King Power Stadium to take on Leicester City for the early afternoon kick-off, the Yorkshire club ultimately came away empty-handed after a goal from Harvey Barnes in the second half secured all three points for the home side.

In terms of individual performances from the players, there was one man in particular from whom Marsch would have surely been hoping to see a solid display, but he didn’t end up delivering when it mattered.

Raphinha was below-par v Leicester

With the full 90 minutes under his belt against the Foxes, Raphinha had 54 touches of the ball in total, with just 22 passes completed out of 29 attempted, also losing possession 22 times throughout the match.

The Brazilian also failed to find a team-mate with any of his five crosses and failed to completed any of the four dribbles he attempted, showing how disappointing he was with the ball when in possession.

Things weren’t much better for the winger when he didn’t have the ball, having lost six of his seven duels and giving two fouls away.

This performance ultimately earned the 25-year-old – who is currently picking up £63k-per-week according to Salary Sport – a disappointing overall match rating of 6.4/10, making him the lowest-rated Leeds player to start the game according to SofaScore.

Given how the attacker has been Leeds’ main goal contributor this season with nine goals and two assists to his name, and their highest-rated player in terms of overall performances from WhoScored, it’s safe to say that Marsch would have been looking to him to work his magic and help his team pick up a positive result.

However, having been described as a “passenger” at times in the past by Stephen Warnock, that’s arguably what Raphinha was today against Brendan Rodgers’ side, letting down his manager with an insipid display.

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With the Whites still in danger of being relegated, Marsch will undoubtedly be hoping that the Brazilian winger can fix up his performances and start adding some more goals and assists to his tally before the end of the campaign, or else the club could be facing another spell back in the Championship.

In other news: Graham Smyth has revealed a Leeds “surprise”…