A second century in consecutive days from Josh Cobb guided Leicestershire to a six-wicket win over the Unicorns.

27-May-2013
ScorecardJosh Cobb made his second century in as many days•Getty Images

A second century in consecutive days from Josh Cobb guided Leicestershire to a six-wicket win over the Unicorns. Cobb’s 128 off just 108 balls helped steer the Foxes past the Unicorns’ 253 with an over to spare as he and Shiv Thakor put on an unbeaten 136.For Cobb, 22, it followed his 130 in the victory against Somerset on Sunday and contained four sixes and nine fours.Tom Lancefield’s 58 had helped the home side set a potentially testing target at Wormsley but Cobb and Thakor steadied the ship after Leicestershire had been 120 for 4.Cobb and Niall O’Brien put on 66 for the first wicket before O’Brien came unstuck off the bowling of Aneurin Norman with Vishal Tripathi taking the catch. Greg Smith scored 14 before he fell lbw to Luke Beaven and Joe Burns followed for just 4 as Keith Parsons took a catch off Norman.And when Matthew Boyce was bowled by Michael O’Shea to leave Leicestershire 120 for 4, the Unicorns may have just been sensing their first win of the season. But Thakor’s unbeaten half-century provided able support for Cobb and sealed the win with a four off the bowling of Devon Endersby.Leicestershire put the Unicorns in and the home team were going at a good rate when the first wicket fell in the eighth over. Lewis Hill had scored 26 of the Unicorns’ 32 runs at that point but went as Burns took a catch off the bowling of Rob Taylor.Lancefield and O’Shea then put on 82 for the second wicket going at a brisk six an over but O’Shea was run out in the 21st over for 32. Lancefield followed as Taylor had him lbw but Garry Park and Tripathi then put on 71 for the fourth wicket in just nine overs before the latter was stumped for 43 off the bowling of Thakor.Park brought up his half-century off the final ball of the 35th over but Parsons fell for just three in the 36th to become Taylor’s third victim of the day. Park followed just six balls later as Boyce took a catch off Anthony Ireland.Norman was next to fall for 7 as Taylor took a catch off to give Ireland another wicket before Endersby was run out off the final ball of the innings.

James Taylor led Nottinghamshire to a four-wicket win over Netherlands, extending their perfect record in the Yorkshire Bank 40 to seven games

19-Jun-2013
ScorecardJames Taylor led Nottinghamshire to a four-wicket win over Netherlands, extending their perfect record in the Yorkshire Bank 40 to seven games.Tom Cooper top-scored with 49 for Holland, who after winning the toss were lifted to 188 for 7 by a seventh-wicket stand of 57 between Dom Michael and captain Peter Borren.Taylor’s unbeaten 90 meant Nottinghamshire were always in control of their chase, which they completed with seven balls to spare.Netherlands openers Stephan Myburgh and Michael Swart were back in the pavilion with only 11 on the board, Ajmal Shahzad with both scalps. Cooper put on 47 with Wesley Barresi and 45 with James Gruijters before he was fifth out, one short of a half-century with the score on 104.Eric Szwarczynski became the second victim of Steven Mullaney before Borren and Michael gave Netherlands hope.Quirijn Gunning’s List A debut began with the wicket of the horribly out of form Alex Hales for a duck with the fourth delivery of Nottinghamshire reply. But Taylor and Michael Lumb steadied any early nerves with a stand of 83 before Cooper removed Lumb and Samit Patel to leave Nottinghamshire 98 for 3.Taylor’s half-century came up in between those two wickets, off 65 balls with
six fours. Ed Cowan and Chris Read fell cheaply to give Netherlands a glimmer of hope at 153 for 5.But Mullaney hit 26 from 16 balls and though he was run out with three needed for victory, Taylor hit the next ball for a match-winning boundary, the ninth of his 119-ball innings.

Kevin Pietersen has been ruled out of the remainder of the second Investec Ashes Test at Lord’s with a calf strain and his involvement in the third Test is now in doubt.

George Dobell at Lord's20-Jul-2013Kevin Pietersen has been ruled out of the remainder of the second Investec Ashes Test at Lord’s with a calf strain and his involvement in the third Test is now in doubt.Pietersen injured his calf while fielding on the second day at Lord’s and did not warm-up with the England team on the third morning. He underwent a scan on Saturday and will not field again in the Lord’s Test.He will now be assessed before a decision is made on his involvement in the third Test at Old Trafford, which begins August 1.Pietersen has recently returned to cricket following a three month layoff after bruising his knee on England’s tour of New Zealand in March. Pietersen left the tour before the final Test in Auckland and did not return to action until June 21.So far, Pietersen has had a quiet Ashes series with 85 runs in four innings, including two single figure scores at Lord’s. But he did make a composed 64 in the second innings at Trent Bridge which helped swing the tide of the match back to England.But now, for the second home Ashes in succession, Pietersen’s availability is in doubt due to injury. He missed the final three Tests of the 2009 series with an Achilles problem.There was better news of Eoin Morgan, who broke a finger in the Champions Trophy. He has received the all-clear from England’s medical staff and is now expected to return to action for Middlesex imminently. It had been feared Morgan would be out for a far longer period.In a clear sign that he remains of interest to the England selectors in all formats, Morgan, who holds a central contract, trained with the Test squad at Lord’s and faced some throw-downs from the coaching team.

Barbados offspinner Ashley Nurse will replace Shane Shillingford in the West Indies A squad for the tour of India

ESPNcricinfo staff08-Sep-2013Barbados offspinner Ashley Nurse has been called up to the West Indies A squad that will tour India later in September, in place of Shane Shillingford. The A tour of India is set to begin on September 15 and will comprise three one-day matches, one T20 and three four-day matches.Nurse had enjoyed a successful debut first-class season for Barbados, finishing third in the wicket-taker’s list with 45 scalps. Shillingford was the overall leader with 71.As the original West Indies A squad had been announced on August 28, and the West Indies tour of India announced subsequently on September 4, the WICB sought to replace Shillingford in the A squad and use Nurse in his place. Shillingford will most likely be in the Test squad for the tour of India, which begins at the end of October.It was also announced that the schedule had been adjusted, with all the matches barring the last four-day game in Hubli being brought forward by a day. The one-dayers and the T20 will be played in Bangalore, while the three four-day games are at Gangotri Glades in Mysore, the JNNCE ground in Shimoga, and the KSCA ground in Hubli.West Indies A squad: Kirk Edwards (capt), Kieran Powell, Kraigg Brathwaite, Jonathan Carter, Sheldon Cotterell, Miguel Cummins, Narsingh Deonarine, Assad Fudadin, Jahmar Hamilton, Delorn Johnson, Leon Johnson, Nikita Miller, Ashley Nurse, Veerasammy Permaul, Chadwick Walton.

The India Under-23 bowlers, led by left-arm spinner Akshar Patel, set up a 46-run victory in the semi-final against United Arab Emirates after a late-order collapse saw India fold for 208. India will now take on Pakistan Under-23 in the final on Sunday.

ESPNcricinfo staff23-Aug-2013
Scorecard and ball-by-ball detailsMohammad Naveed chipped in with three wickets as UAE restricted India U-23s to 208•ACC

The India Under-23s bowlers, led by left-arm spinner Akshar Patel, set up a 46-run victory in the semi-final against United Arab Emirates after a late-order collapse saw India fold for 208. India will now take on Pakistan Under-23s in the final on Sunday.Pacer Sandeep Sharma had managed to get an early breakthrough for India, dismissing opener Amjad Khan. However, an 89-run stand between Shaiman Anwar and Swapnil Patil gave UAE the impetus for the chase. All that changed when Patel struck with two wickets in the 25th over, dismissing Anwar and Saqib Ali within three balls. He dismissed Patil in the 27th over and after which UAE’s reply floundered. The batsmen failed to stitch together a single partnership worth more than 20 runs and Patel finished with four wickets for 29 runs, while offspinner Baba Aparajith and Sandeep picked up two wickets each.Earlier, a 94-run stand between KL Rahul and Manprit Juneja helped India overcome a jittery start, before a few quick strikes slowed them down again. Juneja anchored the innings, adding important partnerships with Ankit Bawne and Ashok Menaria in the middle overs and scoring just one six during his 121-ball 76. With the score at 182 for 4 in 44 overs, India were in a good position to capitalise on the last few overs. However, the wickets of Juneja and Menaria in consecutive overs, triggered a collapse that saw India lose their last six wickets for 26 runs. UAE offspinner Nasir Aziz did most of the damage, finishing with 5 for 51.

Former BCCI president Shashank Manohar has criticised N Srinivasan, saying the latter had no right to continue as the chief of the board.

ESPNcricinfo staff03-Oct-2013Former BCCI president Shashank Manohar has criticised N Srinivasan, saying the latter has no right to continue as the chief of the board in the aftermath of alleged corruption in the IPL. Manohar also stated that a few members of the board, including Jagmohan Dalmiya, had asked him to contest the election for the post of the BCCI president at the board’s annual general meeting on September 29.”Srinivasan has no right to continue as president,” Manohar told . “If you had the slightest of conscience, self-esteem and care for the board, you ought to have put in your papers the moment your son-in-law was arrested. You did nothing and, as a result, the board’s reputation has taken a hit to the extent that the people have lost faith in this board.”Manohar, who was the BCCI chief between 2008 and 2011, said certain members had requested him to contest against Srinivasan. The current president, however, was re-elected unopposed for an extended tenure.”Many people, including Mr Dalmiya, requested me to come back and contest,” Manohar said. “I left the board two years back and I have not entered its premises again. I have no intention to come back. I said if all the members want me, I will not shirk the responsibility. This board has given me a lot and I was willing to give something back.”Terming Srinivasan as an “autocrat”, Manohar said that the BCCI president had no intention of cleaning up the board and had “damaged” the reputation of the organisation within a span of a few months.”He is trying to shield everybody, his team included,” Manohar said. “He does not want to clean this mess. If my son was in Srinivasan’s position, I would have asked him to resign. Srinivasan is an autocrat and wants all the power for himself. He told the media that his son-in-law was just ‘an enthusiast’. His counsel argued before the courts that Srinivasan did not choose his son-in-law but his daughter did. It is laughable. A person who cannot defend his family member has no right to say he will take responsibility of the board.”Manohar said that there was evidence to prove Gurunath Meiyappan’s role in Chennai Super Kings: “There is a lot of evidence of Meiyappan being the team principal. The truth will come out. I don’t have to state this. It is a fact. He has been chargesheeted and the law will take its own course, but the evidence is very much there.”BCCI secretary Sanjay Patel declined to comment on the board’s behalf on Thursday on Manohar’s remarks and said running the board is a “collective responsibility” of all the office bearers.”I have not gone through the [news] report but some media friends have told me and I was busy right through the morning,” Patel said. “I would like to say nothing more than that but any ex-BCCI officer, before making any remarks about the colleagues on the board, should have considered that BCCI is running with [the help of] all the office bearers. My personal view is that it is always the collective responsibility of all office bearers. One cannot absolve himself by leaving aside the others. I don’t know much in detail about the issue but that is the only thing I can say.”

Soumya Sarkar, Litton Das and Mohammad Shahid earned maiden Test call ups after they were picked for the first Test against Pakistan, starting April 28 in Khulna

Mohammad Isam24-Apr-2015Batsmen Soumya Sarkar and Litton Das, and fast bowler Mohammad Shahid have earned maiden Test call-ups after they were picked for the first Test against Pakistan, from April 28 in Khulna. The national selectors also kept faith in Imrul Kayes, Shuvagata Hom and Shahadat Hossain, who had played in Bangladesh’s last Test series, against Zimbabwe last November.Rubel Hossain, who was rested for the lone T20, was part of the squad. However, there was no place for opening batsman Shamsur Rahman, as well as seamers Shafiul Islam and Al-Amin Hossain.Soumya was a shoe-in after making 175 runs in six World Cup games and 164, including an unbeaten 127, in the Pakistan ODI series. Litton, who was earlier picked in the T20 side but did not play, was rewarded for topping the National Cricket League batting charts with 1024 runs in seven matches at an average of 85.33, including five centuries and three fifties. He also finished as the second-highest run-getter in the Dhaka Premier Division with 686 runs in 16 matches. Shahid is a right-arm seamer who has taken 56 first-class wickets at an average of 32.19. He was the fourth-highest wicket taker among all pace bowlers, taking 18 wickets at an average of 36.11.BCB chief selector Faruque Ahmed said that Shahid’s ability to bowl long spells was what had won him a place in the Test squad. He also said that that Litton’s strong domestic form and Soumya’s recent form in ODIs had helped them seal their spots.”The newcomers are deserving of their spots through performances in domestic and international cricket,” Faruque said. “Mohammad Shahid is a strong lad capable of bowling long spells and he has been a consistent performer in first class games. Litton has scored heavily in the last couple of seasons while Soumya [Sarkar] has started strongly in ODIs.”With Imrul Kayes having struck 130 in the first innings in final Test against Zimbabwe in Chittagong, Faruque hinted that Soumya may not open if he gets selected in the XI.”He [Soumya] may not bat in the same position if he gets picked but he can give us a lot of depth in the batting order.”The selectors also showed faith in allrounder Shuvagata Hom despite his returns of 117 in six innings at an average of 23.40. He did not fare better with the ball either, managing only two wickets at an average of 47.Shahadat Hossain, who played the first Test against Zimbabwe, is currently Bangladesh’s highest wicket-taker in Tests among the available pace bowlers. He has taken only 13 first-class wickets this season but by bowling regularly in the Bangladesh nets, he kept himself on the selectors’ radar.Faruque, who didn’t speak directly to the media but was quoted by the BCB, said that the selectors preferred to give the players a decent run in the team.”We prefer to give players a reasonable run in the team and Imrul Kayes keeps his place by virtue of his performance in the last Test series. Shahadat Hossain has bowled very well in the National Cricket League and he has the experience.”Farque also credited spinners Taijul Islam and Jubair Hossain, who shared 28 wickets between them in the Zimbabwe Tests.”We consider Taijul as one of the best left-arm spin options for us in Tests and Jubair Hossain’s leg-spin is a valuable addition to our attack,” he said.Test squad: Mushfiqur Rahim (captain), Tamim Iqbal (vice-captain), Imrul Kayes, Litton Das, Mominul Haque, Shakib Al Hasan, Mahmudullah, Shuvagata Hom, Soumya Sarkar, Taijul Islam, Jubair Hossain, Rubel Hossain, Shahadat Hossain, Mohammad Shahid

The occasion of international cricket’s return to Pakistan was made merrier by the opening pair of Mukhtar Ahmed and Ahmed Shehzad as they tore into and broke down Zimbabwe’s challenging 172 for 6, to ensure the side, playing at home after six years, won

The Report by Mohammad Isam22-May-2015

Scorecard and ball-by-ball detailsThe occasion of international cricket’s return to Pakistan was made merrier by the opening pair of Mukhtar Ahmed and Ahmed Shehzad as they tore into and broke down Zimbabwe’s challenging 172 for 6, to ensure the side, playing at home after six years, won by five wickets.Their 142-run stand equalled the opening partnership between Salman Butt and Kamran Akmal against Bangladesh in the 2010 World T20 but the one at the Gaddafi Stadium will be counted as more special. The March 2009 attack on the Sri Lanka team bus, outside this very cricket stadium, had taken international cricket away from them.The full house was fully entertained by the newcomer Mukhtar, who made 83 off 45 balls. His dozen boundaries were hit off a bowling attack which lacked a leader and a strong attacker but Mukhtar did what he had to do. He was severe on everything straight and on his legs, nine of his 12 fours coming through fine-leg, midwicket and long-on. He reached 50 off 34 balls and left the more recognised Shehzad far behind.Shehzad didn’t miss out though, getting to his fifty in the 12th over. He struck some brutal hits down the ground but was generous enough to let Mukhtar do all the hitting. The pair fell in consecutive overs – Shehzad gave a catch to point, while Mukhtar hit straight to long-on – but the crowd was fully entertained for one hour by the pair.After the Mukhtar-Shehzad partnership, Pakistan lost three more wickets before captain Shahid Afridi struck a straight boundary to complete the win with three balls to spare.The start of the evening, too, will remain memorable. The crowd started to enter the stadium more than two hours before the first ball and it was a full house when Shahid Afridi and Elton Chigumbura strode out to the toss, held seven minutes earlier as the Pakistan president Mamnoon Hussain met with both squads. Afridi gave one last pep talk before the hosts raced to the turf.The first ball was a fuller length delivery from Anwar Ali that crashed into Hamilton Masakadza’s pad. The pace bowler didn’t appeal, but an appeal wouldn’t have been out of place given the drama of the occasion. Masakadza then got to work with a string of boundaries but he failed to keep the crowd’s noise down. A gap of six years for an international game kept them animated even as they fanned themselves with the four and six placards.Masakadza got seven fours and a six in his 27-ball 43, cutting, lap-sweeping and forcing fours through point, midwicket, fine-leg and mid-off. His only six was a high pull off Bilawal Bhatti over square-leg in the third over. Vusi Sibanda was nondescript at the other end with 13 off 15 balls.Their 58-run stand ended in the seventh over when Sibanda top-edged Mohammad Sami for 13 and next ball, Pakistan’s comeback man – playing his first international match since July 2012 – got Masakadza to inside-edge on to the stumps. The noise was at a maximum but despite that, and the regular wickets, their fielding errors slightly blotted the occasion. A few outfielders dived over the ball, Sarfraz missed two stumpings, including that of Chigumbura when he was on eight, and Riaz dropping a skier off his own bowling.Charles Coventry, another comeback story of the day, was given caught-behind though TV replays showed the ball appeared to hit his bicep on the way to the wicketkeeper. Chigumbura, meanwhile, kept the pace set by Masakadza with timely boundaries. Zimbabwe’s tally of 58 in the last five overs was mostly his doing.Chigumbura’s late onslaught began with a top-edged four off Bhatti before fours were squeezed past point and inside-edged. He added blasts over point, midwicket and extra cover off Riaz’s third over before flicking Sami’s full-toss to reach his second T20 fifty, making 54 off 35 balls.Sikandar Raza struck a high six over midwicket before falling in the 17th over but he helped Chigumbura add 42 for the fifth wicket in just 4.2 overs.Malik was the most economical bowler with 1 for 12 from three overs while Sami took 3 for 36. Riaz finished with two wickets but he was too wayward for a bowler leading the attack.Zimbabwe’s bowlers too were poor for most of the Pakistan innings, though Cremer looked happy with his two wickets while Williams and Brian Vitori took one wicket apiece.For the fans and the team, it was a joyous occasion, a chance to cherish a match played in their home. International cricket in Pakistan came to a halt in Lahore and it is here that Zimbabwe’s tour got underway, with a win for the home team.

After meeting ICC officials regarding Bangladesh’s 2017 Champions Trophy qualification, BCB CEO Nizamuddin Chowdhury has said the board is considering a contingency plan should there be any late changes in their ODI ranking

Mohammad Isam30-Jun-2015After meeting ICC officials regarding Bangladesh’s 2017 Champions Trophy qualification, BCB CEO Nizamuddin Chowdhury has said the board is considering a contingency plan should there be any late changes in their ODI ranking.Bangladesh, who have 93 points, sit seventh on the table with West Indies five points below them at No 8 and Pakistan a point below West Indies at No 9. In August, West Indies and Pakistan will be involved in a tri-series also featuring Zimbabwe.Nizamuddin’s statement comes exactly 24 hours after BCB director Jalal Yunus said that the the system of organising bilateral series had “gone bad” since the ICC stopped getting involved in the Future Tours Programme.Nizamuddin was BCB’s only representative in the ICC annual meeting in Barbados last week where he discussed Bangladesh’s ranking situation in light of West Indies confirming their participation in the tri-series in Zimbabwe. He said only a specific set of results for Pakistan in their five-match against Sri Lanka and in the tri-series in Zimbabwe would disturb Bangladesh in the rankings.”We are currently at No 7 in the ICC ODI rankings so we are hoping to participate in the next Champions Trophy,” Nizamuddin said. “Pakistan and West Indies are below us in the present ODI rankings. Matches between Pakistan and West Indies will have some effect in our ranking but because there is a five-point gap between teams ranked No 7 and 8, we think that chances are very slim for them.”We can’t just have a back-up plan. We need to find a team that is free and willing to play. We are still working on [a back-up plan]. If there is a need, we will proceed accordingly.”In April this year, BCB president Nazmul Hassan had spoken about Bangladesh hosting a four-nation tournament involving West Indies, Zimbabwe and Pakistan, to be tentatively held in November. ESPNcricinfo has learned that Bangladesh changed tack about participating in this tournament after they had beaten Pakistan 3-0 and moved up to No. 8, a few weeks after Nazmul’s statement.When asked whether Bangladesh were linked to this tri-series, Nizamuddin only said Bangladesh should focus on playing against teams such as South Africa, ranked fourth with 112 points, rather than lower-ranked teams.”We have to keep in mind that in terms of ranking, the easy calculation is that when a higher-ranked team beats a lower ranked team, there isn’t much variation in points earned. In that case, since West Indies and Pakistan are below us, I think we are on the safe side.”We should be more focused on the South Africa series which is coming up shortly rather than playing matches against teams ranked below us.”For Bangladesh to slip out of the top eight, Pakistan will have to beat Sri Lanka convincingly but lose to West Indies in the Zimbabwe tri-series.”There is nothing called a guarantee in this situation,” Nizamuddin said. “Their chances are very slim. Pakistan have to win a number of matches because they are below West Indies.”

With conditions in their favour, Warwickshire valiantly fought their way back into the match at Chester-le-Street. On a gradually improving day they had the full evening session to begin their pursuit of 265 to beat Durham and reached 125 for 3

Jon Culley14-Jul-2015
ScorecardRikki Clarke got Warwickshire back into the match•Getty Images

This match is so intriguingly set with a day remaining that is hard to decide who has the upper hand. The 265 needed by Warwickshire to retain an outside chance of staying in contention for the Championship looked a tall order but a composed half-century by Laurie Evans has given them an opportunity. Scoring a further 140 with seven wickets still intact looks much less daunting.Success may depend on how long the partnership with Sam Hain survives in the morning session but Hain batted exceptionally well in the first innings and there is a depth of batting to come, with the possibility that Chris Woakes might complete a highly satisfactory comeback by scoring the winning runs.Woakes, in his first competitive action since suffering a foot injury during the World Cup and subsequently damaging his left knee during his rehab, has already shown that he is in good order with ball in hand. Having spoken of his hunger to play a part in England’s Ashes summer, he took three wickets in the space of 10 balls as Warwickshire scythed through Durham’s top order. It was only the enterprise of another bowler who clearly knows what to do with a bat that kept Durham in the match at all.Durham had earlier appeared to be well in control, claiming the last three of Warwickshire’s first-innings wickets in the first 45 minutes for a lead of 116.But then came carnage. In a muggy atmosphere with a threat of showers, they lost their own first four second innings wickets for just nine runs. Conditions were ideal for Woakes, who posed a threat from his first ball and drew first blood with the second ball of his third over, finding the edge of Mark Stoneman’s bat with a delivery the first-innings century-maker was obliged to play.In his next over he struck twice, the first ball clipping Paul Collingwood’s back pad and persuading umpire Graham Lloyd to raise the finger. For the second time in the match, the Durham captain, already facing a dissent charge for his reaction to his first-innings dismissal, appeared to react with incredulity. Four balls later, Scott Borthwick, Durham’s other in-form left-hander, was drawn into a tentative push and was caught behind.Meanwhile, Rikki Clarke, impressive as the senior bowler in the first innings as Woakes eased his way back in, was giving staunch support, running in with purpose at the other end. He flattened two of Keaton Jennings’ stumps and struck again when Michael Richardson, who had pulled Woakes for six as he counter-attacked vigorously, flashed hard and fell to an excellent catch by Evans at third slip. Durham went to lunch, teeteringly, on 34 for five.The mayhem continued into the afternoon as Gordon Muchall, with a wild an injudicious swing, became Clarke’s eighth wicket of the match. Surprisingly, this was new territory for the former England all-rounder, a reliable chipper-in for much of his Warwickshire career but seldom the main man. His biggest match haul previously was seven.When a fine ball from Oliver Hannon-Dalby had John Hastings caught at slip, Durham were 55 for 7, desperately hoping they could at least finish 200 in front. In fact, they exceeded that handsomely. The ball began to lose its venom and runs began to come less hazardously and they did manage a recovery of sorts. Jamie Harrison, the left-arm seamer, completed his second first-class half-century, adding 40 in company with Ryan Pringle and 48 for the ninth wicket with Chris Rushworth.Varun Chopra and Ian Westwood made a decent start to the chase, scoring at five an over, but then both were out. Chopra, with no end in sight to his wretched run, was strangled down the leg side, then Jonathan Webb was out without scoring for the second time in the match, his middle stump plucked out as Rushworth, another five-wicket haul under his belt from the first innings, claimed his 52nd victim of the season.Another glut of wickets might have followed, but Warwickshire applied themselves doggedly. Evans had gone first ball in the first innings but by now the surface was offering Rushworth fewer favours. He and Ian Westwood were determined to keep mistakes to a minimum but nonetheless kept the scoreboard moving. They added 65 for the third wicket before Westwood edged a decent ball from John Hastings and raised the possibility of a win.Woakes was pleased with his comeback. “I’m still feeling a little bit sore of an evening,” he said, with reference to the aftermath of surgery to repair a torn meniscus. “But I’ll take that. Pulling up in the morning is fine.”I’ve never been out for a significant amount of time before so it has been frustrating. It’s been one thing after another starting with the ankle at the World Cup and leading on to my knee.”In terms of timing, it was a bad moment to pick up an injury being in the England squad for all formats. It’s great to see the boys doing well but I want to be part of it.”I’ve got to get myself back to my best fight my way back in. It is not going to be easy but I’m looking forward to it. It is great to see the Ashes summer start so well for and I want to be back in it.”