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Opposite numbers Steven Smith and Kane Williamson have endorsed the push at ICC level for league structures for international cricket, after the Chappell-Hadlee series concluded in front of a small crowd at the MCG on Friday night.The importance of context to international matches was starkly underlined by an attendance of 20,591 for the match, little more than 18 months after Australia and New Zealand attracted more than 90,000 spectators for last year’s World Cup final at the same venue.Proposals presently before the ICC feature leagues for ODIs and Twenty20 internationals, with bilateral series of uniform length serving as World Cup qualifying matches, therefore adding meaning to every encounter beyond the present patchwork of series negotiated individually between competing teams.The arrangement for Australia and New Zealand to meet every summer was reached following the World Cup, with Australia agreeing to do so in part to help encourage New Zealand to submit to taking part in the inaugural day-night Test match in Adelaide last summer. However, these sorts of deals may soon be on the way out.”There’s been a few proposals that have come up and you want as much relevance for every series as possible,” Smith said. “This series has been a great series, New Zealand are always fantastic to play against, they’re tough competitors and it was no different this series. I’m proud of the way our guys played. After a tough tour to South Africa, where we lost 5-0, it was nice to turn things around and win every game in this series.”For his part, Williamson said that the treadmill of matches made it difficult to think in terms of wider strategic goals, other than simply to try to improve each time he took his side to the middle – something he was unable to achieve this time around over the course of three defeats.”There’s a lot of chat about that at the moment,” Williamson said of league structures. “To be fair it’s quite hard to look or think about it too much, there’s so much cricket going on that you’re very much focused on the next game, trying to be better as a side and that’s certainly my focus. It would be great to have as much meaning on every game as you can. From our side’s perspective it’s about getting better and every game’s an opportunity to do that.”As if to underline the point, Smith’s men will fly to Brisbane on Saturday to prepare for the first Test against Pakistan, something he hoped would continue the momentum built up against New Zealand. “It’s been a great series for us and great for our confidence as well. Winning’s a lot better than losing and it becomes a bit of a habit as well,” Smith said. “Hopefully we can keep up this habit for the rest of the summer.”New Zealand fly home around the same time and have a brief break before hosting Bangladesh for a series of ODIs and T20s. Williamson was disappointed by the closing defeat at the MCG, failing to make a decent fist of chasing down a far more manageable total than those racked up by Australia in Sydney and Canberra.”Very disappointing,” Williamson said. “At the halfway stage they were a little bit above par, just from a fantastic knock from Davey. But in saying that the way we were able to take wickets at the other end meant we were chasing a total that was certainly gettable if we were to play well. But we were far from playing well, losing wickets early … we’d like to think we’re much better than that chasing a total.”

USA coach Pubudu Dassanayake gave credit to Denmark’s death bowling unit, saying their ability to bowl yorkers at the death saved them 30 runs in the final four overs that was a turning point in USA’s four-wicket loss on Wednesday at WCL Division Four. Dassanayake believes it is something USA must learn from when preparing to take on good teams in tournament play.”The major difference is that our bowlers didn’t bowl well and especially the main bowlers, our spinners,” Dassanayake said. “It was a decent batting track but defending 260 I would never doubt it but we bowled pretty badly. Having said that, Denmark bowled really well at the end. Almost every ball was a yorker and they defended about 30 runs in that period because of the way that they bowled. A lot of credit to them but it’s and eye-opener for our bowling department and at the death overs how we’re going to handle it if that situation comes again.”One area to come under scrutiny is not just USA’s poor bowling performance but the bowling strategy itself. USA captain Steven Taylor pulled specialist left-arm spinner Danial Ahmed from the attack after just one over for nine runs and didn’t use him for the rest of the game, the second time Taylor has done so in the tournament and instead opted to use himself and Alex Amsterdam to fill out those overs with part-time offspin. Taylor finished with 3 for 46 in ten overs while Amsterdam took 0 for 32 in seven.Ahmed bowled a superb spell of 0 for 29 in ten overs a day earlier against Oman and though he is wicketless so far in the tournament, he has had numerous chances put down off his bowling. Ahmed’s overall economy rate for the tournament is 4.27 and Dassayanake says he has confidence in Ahmed heading into the Jersey match.”I haven’t thought about any changes yet for Friday,” Dassanayake said. “We know Danial’s capability. Against Oman the way he bowled ten overs really contributed a lot to win that game. We have to keep building confidence in him. We’ll meet and see our best combination for Friday and come back with it. The things I have with the reserves, Jessy and Prashanth as bowlers, there are lots of options for me to select. I’m not blaming Danial, especially I don’t think anyone can blame him today because he only bowled one over. It’s just about giving that confidence to him and come back hard on Friday.”However, Dassanayake didn’t rule out other potential changes. Ali Khan has been bowling the last two games with a hamstring strain while Ravi Timbawala has been troubled since the first match of the tournament with a right thumb injury. Jessy Singh bowled well in the first two games of the tournament for USA before making way for Khan while hard-hitting Abdullah Syed is waiting to make his debut as a batting reserve.”We have to look into our injuries,” Dassanayake said. “Ravi is struggling with his thumb. Ali from the beginning had the hamstring injury but slowly he is getting better. There are a few other niggles. Still again we will assess all the injuries and see who is the best XI available for Friday.”Dassanayake remains bullish on USA’s chances of promotion despite the loss to Denmark. USA sits at 3-1 in a three-way tie for first place with Oman and Denmark, though USA has by far the best net run rate, which is the tournament tiebreaker. USA comes up against Jersey on Friday at Wong Cricket Field, a team currently 1-3 in the tournament whose only victory so far has come against winless Italy. A win for USA will clinch promotion to Division Three and set up a potential rematch in the final against Denmark, who take on Oman in a virtual semi-final at Severn Cricket Field.”When you lose it’s tough to take but still I am comfortable to say that USA is the best team in this league,” Dassanayake said. “It’s just one bad session we had in the evening. With my experience in World Cricket League, it always happens in these tournaments at this level. It’s all about how we come back hard on the next day. Everybody has to stay cool and come back and do their best on Friday and I’m pretty confident what we’re going to do. No one is panicking in our group. We have lots of confidence to get through this tournament. It was just a bad half day.”

WICB president Dave Cameron has said Darren Bravo was offered a Grade-C contract because his “poor” recent performances did not merit a higher pay grade. Cameron also revealed that of the 15 players who were recently offered WICB contracts till September 2017, only Kraigg Brathwaite and Marlon Samuels had received contracts higher than the C category. Along with Bravo, Carlos Brathwaite and Samuels, who was given a Grade-B contract, had declined the board’s offer.This is the first time that the WICB offered an explanation of the contract Bravo was offered. “It is explicit that if your averages are not above a certain level it tells you what contracts you get. It is very, very explicit,” Cameron told , a Caribbean television network. “His averages in the last two years have been declining, so what do you do? Reward poor performance or do you encourage him to get better?”Bravo is one of the most experienced players in the West Indies Test squad and when Cameron asked if it was demotivating for the batsman to be offered a low contract, he said: “If you continue to keep giving him an A contract then what is the motivation to get better? He has been on an A contract and he hasn’t done well.”Bravo responded with a tweet saying he had never been offered a Grade-A contract. “You hav been failing 4 d last 4yrs. Y don’t u resign and FYI I’ve neva been given an A contract. Big idiot @davec51,” he said on Twitter.Bravo, 27, was West Indies’ second-highest run getter in the recently concluded Test series against Pakistan in the UAE. Before that, he had a poor Test series against India at home, scoring only 139 runs in seven innings. Since November 2014, Bravo scored 1089 runs in 17 Tests for West Indies, a tally that is second to Kraigg Brathwaite’s 1258 runs in 20 matches. Bravo scored two centuries and seven fifties in this period, and was also the second-highest run getter for the side in away Tests in this period, with 391 runs at an average of 43.44. Bravo’s overall batting average in overseas Tests is 51.18.The WICB retainers comprise five categories – A+, A, B+, B and C – and the eventual grades are based on a points system used for players. These points are calculated by an appraisal formula that compares the player’s performance over the last 12 months to his overall career figures. In 2015, Bravo scored 644 runs in nine Tests at an average of 35.77, with his best performances coming overseas. In Sri Lanka, he scored two half-centuries from four innings before racking up 247 runs in five innings at 49.4 in Australia. In, Bravo aggregated 300 runs in five matches at an average of 37.50.Cameron did not provide the specifics of how many points Bravo had scored. “Every single player got C contract except Kraigg Brathwaite and Marlon Samuels,” he said.

Robbie Frylinck broke the South African franchise record for best figures in a match when he took 14 for 62 to bowl the Dolphins to victory over the Lions in Potchefstroom. In February 2015, Kagiso Rabada, who took 14 for 105 for Lions against the Dolphins, surpassed Dale Steyn’s 14 for 110 for the Titans against the Eagles seven season’s earlier.Frylinck’s haul made Dolphins, who have two wins in as many matches, the early leaders in the first-class competition.Having played some of his cricket on the Highveld, Frylinck was fairly familiar with a surface that offered some pace, bounce and rewarded good lengths. Yet, he may have not expected to bowl the opposition out twice for under 150. The Dolphins won by 77 runs.The first innings proved batting would be tough. Only one of the Dolphins’ batsmen, Khaya Zondo, managed fifty plus, but 72-run seventh wicket stand from new Test call up Keshav Maharaj dragged the total past 250.If Maharaj wanted to celebrate his maiden international call up, he was left disappointed as Frylinck ripped through the Lions before he could be given a bowl. Frylinck took 8 for 30 in the first innings to blast the Lions out for 110, to give the Dolphins a 143 run lead.But the Lions had a ready response. Wiaan Mulder, their schoolboy protege, took seven for 25 to bowl the Dolphins out for 83 and keep the Lions in the game. Zondo was the standout, again, with 44, with only one other batsmen got into double figures.The Lions were set a gettable 227 for victory but Frylinck was at them again. He took three of the opening five wickets at the Lions were struggling on 115 for 5. They went into the third morning needing 107 to win but when top-scorer Kagiso Rapulana was dismissed for 42, the writing was on the wall. The last five wickets fell for 17 runs to end the match inside three days.The Cobras slipped to a second big defeat, as they lost to the Knights by 175 runs in Bloemfontein. In-form fast bowler Marchant de Lange topped up on his seven wickets in last week’s fixture against the Titans, with 6 for 61 in the second innings to dismiss the Cobras well off their target of 444. The loss adds further pressure on Paul Adams, whose job as coach has been under scrutiny ever since the season began.On what is usually a flat pitch in Bloemfontein, the Knights chose to bat first but were in early trouble. They lost both openers with only nine on the board, before Theunis de Bruyn and Pite van Biljon put on 109 for the third wicket, both scoring half-centuries. Fast bowler Dane Paterson broke the partnership, before Test discard Dane Piedt took two wickets off consecutive overs to engineer a collapse that saw the Knights lose 4 for 60 and slip to 178 for 6. Former Cobras player Robin Peterson led the second recovery, which saw batsmen from No.7 to No.10 all post scores in the forties to take the Knights to 342.If the Knights were anxious about whether they’d scored enough, the Cobras put any doubts to rest when they slipped to 96 for 4. Stiaan van Zyl, who was also left out of the Test squad, held them together with 83 and was supported by Aviwe Mgijima who scored 50. However, the Knights kept them in check. Left-arm fast bowler Mbulelo Budaza picked up 4 for 45, while Duanne Olivier and van Schalkwyk chipped in with two each to give the Knights a 101-run lead.The Cobras fought back to take the first three Knights wickets for 43, but van Biljon and Rudi Second scored 123 and 106 respectively to consolidate the Knights’ advantage. Although the rest of the Knights line-up didn’t contribute, they scored 342 and set up a 444-run target. Cobras captain Omphile Ramela was the surprise pick of the bowlers, taking a career-best 4 for 39 with his part-time left-arm spin.The Cobras started solidly and went into the final day needing 376 runs with nine wickets in hand. However, they collapsed from 114 for 1 to 164 for 6, as van Schalkwyk and de Lange shared the five wickets. Jason Smith had enough partners to see him through to his third first-class hundred – 100 not out off 88 balls – but not a run more. The Cobras were bowled out for 268 and now find themselves at the bottom of the table, having managed just 10.82 points from their first two fixtures.File photo – Morne Morkel returned to action with three wickets against Warriors•AFP

The Titans have not fared much better, with 12.28 points from their first two matches in the absence of new head coach Mark Boucher, who had a prior arrangement. His team, who have yet to post a total of more than 300, lost by six wickets to the Warriors in Port Elizabeth.Trouble began early for the Titans when they lost Dean Elgar in the second over after opting to bar. Heino Kuhn managed 52, but the rest of the Titans line-up could not come to terms with the Warriors bowlers, led by Basheer Walters and Simon Harmer who picked up three wickets each.With Morne Morkel in their ranks, the Titans might have been hopeful of defending their 227, especially after he had Michael Price caught behind with his first ball. However, Colin Ackermann scored his seventh first-class century as he put on 135 for the second wicket with Edward Moore (69), and 90 for the third with Lesiba Ngoepe (45). He took the Warriors comfortably past the Titans score, before being dismissed for 136. The tail then stretched the lead to 131. Morkel finished with 3 for 54.The Titans were looking at an innings defeat when they crashed to 108 for 8 in reply, and had to rely on a 100-run ninth-wicket stand between Heinrich Klaasen and Morkel to stay in the game. Harmer broke the stand with his fourth wicket of the innings, before Rowan Richards’ run-out left Klaasen stranded on 97, and the Warriors with only 105 to get. They lost four wickets in getting there, but Moore’s second fifty of the match, an unbeaten 58, saw them home comfortably.

After Dawlat Zadran sliced Taskin Ahmed to the third-man boundary to seal Afghanistan’s tense win, there were hugs and handshakes in the camp, a far cry from their exuberant celebrations after defeating Bangladesh in 2014 or West Indies at this year’s World T20.”We will try to win the series and then we will celebrate,” Man of the Match Mohammad Nabi said, before breaking into a smile.Nabi said the win will help people forget Afghanistan’s close loss in the first ODI, where they lost by seven runs.”After we lost the first game, people talked too much: ‘why you lost because you were supposed to win the game. In the end you lost the game,’ they said. From this win they are going to be really happy,” Nabi said.”The win against a Full Member side means big for Associate Nations. Afghanistan cricket is improving day by day. The win will give more energy to the people and everyone watching in Afghanistan will be happy from that win.”Afghanistan executed their gameplans, and stalled Bangladesh’s momentum from the outset. Mohammad Nabi and Mirwais Ashraf were used against Bangladesh’s openers, who prefer pace and width to score their runs.Nabi, who returned figures of 10-3-16-2, credited their coach Lalchand Rajput and captain Asghar Stanikzai, along with an improved fielding performance for the win.”The plan of the captain and coach was that both left-handed batsmen is coming to open and that I would be bowling from the start. The pitch had moisture.”We discussed in the meetings that we are going for the win. It worked a lot in the bowling especially the spinners. We just dropped one catch. The boys worked a lot on the planning which helped us win the game,” Nabi said.Afghanistan were in trouble at 63 for 4 in their chase of 209 when Nabi joined Stanikzai. Nabi said the focus wasn’t on finding the boundary during their 107-run stand despite the asking rate increasing steadily.”The pitch condition was not suitable for batting. It was turning and skidding. The plan was to play until 40 overs and we could just concentrate on singles and doubles, and not hitting boundaries. We knew that in the few overs in the middle when we didn’t hit any boundary, that’s where the partnership was built.”The experience worked a little, not too much. We didn’t finish well. We threw the wickets away under pressure,” Nabi said.

Scorecard and ball-by-ball details
It was another sunny day with no play in Port of Spain•AFP

All efforts to get the Queen’s Park Oval ready for play were given up in the very first hour of the fourth day. At around 10.25am, the fourth day was called off.Since the early morning on day two of the Test, there had been barely an hour of rain, but the outfield was in such a bad state that not a ball was bowled for three days. The ground was not fully covered, it didn’t have a super sopper, and Test cricket went through another surreal day of no action.With the Test certain to end as a draw, Pakistan were all set to become the new No. 1 Test team; India needed to win this Test to retain their top spot.

Scorecard and ball-by-ball details3:59