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Somerset have just launched their Young Cricketers Patron Scheme with the specific aim of giving club members and the general public an opportunity to support Somerset Youth Cricket.Somerset Cricket Development Officer Andrew Moulding told me: "The Somerset Young Cricketers Patron Scheme is simply a `membership’ scheme. Somerset Youth Cricket is seeking to attract Patrons to offset the cost of youth squad matches, the Corner system, associated coaching programmes and school competitions. There are no restrictions on who can become a Somerset Young Cricketers Patron."Andrew Moulding continued: "The scheme is aimed at all supporters of Somerset Youth Cricket. These could be club cricketers, County Cricket Club members, former Somerset players, parents, grandparents, etc. Basically, anyone who wishes to help the next generation of Somerset cricket to flourish can do so by becoming a Somerset Young Cricketers Patron."Mr Moulding concluded: "We would like to think that potential patrons will come forward and support young cricketers from grassroots to professional cricket."The cost of becoming a Somerset Young Cricketers Patron is just £15. In return, as well as supporting a very worthwhile cause which in the past has produced a number of players currently on the staff including Marcus Trescothick, Rob Turner, Keith Parsons and Matt Bulbeck, Patrons will receive their own distinctive maroon tie featuring the Somerset dragon, a Somerset Cricket Board fixture card, a Somerset Cricket Board newsletter (3 per year) and a copy of the Somerset Young Cricketers review which contains details of the seasons performances.Anybody interested in joining the Somerset Young Cricketers Patron Scheme or helping with Somerset Youth Cricket in anyway should contact Andrew Moulding at the Centre of Excellence, The County Ground, Taunton, Somerset , TA1 1JT. (telephone 01823 352266).

Former England spinner Monty Panesar will stand as a parliamentary candidate for George Galloway’s Workers Party at the next general election.Panesar, who was born in Luton and played 50 Tests for England, taking 167 wickets at 34.71, will be on the ballot in Ealing Southall. The constituency has been a Labour Party stronghold under Vivendra Sharma since 2007. Sharma currently holds a majority of over 16,000 in a constituency whose population, according to the 2021 Census, is almost one-third (30 per cent) Asian.”I want to be the voice for the workers of this country,” Panesar said in a column in The Telegraph. “My aspiration in politics is to one day become Prime Minister, where I would make Britain a safer and stronger nation. But the first job at hand is to represent the people of Ealing Southall.”Galloway returned to the House of Commons in March after victory in the Rochdale by-election, following the death of the previous incumbent, Labour MP Sir Tony Lloyd. Speaking on Tuesday morning, Galloway confirmed Panesar, 42, will be unveiled as one of his party’s candidates at a press event outside the Houses of Parliament.Speaking to LBC, Galloway said: “I’ll present 200 of them outside Parliament this afternoon, including – you’ll like this – Monty Panesar, the ace Indian cricketer, former England international cricketer, who will be our candidate in Southall.””Monty, of course, was a great left-arm spinner and so we could do with him”.Panesar, whose full name is Mudhsuden Singh Panesar, became the first practising Sikh to represent England in 2006, when selected at Nagpur in the first Test of that winter’s tour of India.Following his retirement, he undertook a sports journalism course at St Mary’s University, London, and earlier this month leant his support to the Show Racism the Red Card campaign, in which he talked up the benefits of immigration in a video.In 2021, he defended Michael Vaughan, his former England captain, after he was accused of using racist language towards Azeem Rafiq during a match for Yorkshire in 2009.

Four wickets in four balls to be in elite company alongside T20 superstars Lasith Malinga and Rashid Khan. Knocking off the winning runs in the chase. Scooping up the Player-of-the-Match award. Curtis Campher packed his World Cup debut with plenty of highlights as Ireland opened their T20 World Cup campaign with a resounding victory against Netherlands in Abu Dhabi.The start, however, wasn’t as rosy for Campher. After being introduced into the attack in the seventh over, Campher floated two half-trackers that were cracked to the square boundaries. He said he offered an apology to his captain Andy Balbirnie before switching ends and his own fortunes. When Campher darted a short delivery down the leg side, Colin Ackermann was late on a pull and ended up snicking behind to wicketkeeper Neil Rock. He then went full to attack the pads and stumps. Ryan ten Doeschate and Scott Edwards were both dismissed lbw, playing around their front pads. Campher completed the sequence when he had Roelof van der Merwe chopping on.Related

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“To be honest, I wasn’t really thinking about it [emulating Malinga and Rashid],” Campher said at the post-match press conference. “Maybe it will set in a little bit later, but I’m just trying to do what I want to do – when Tendo walked in we knew we had to go straight to him and that worked and then just carried on to Edwards too. Both those [attacking the stumps] were plans worked out from the analyst and that kind of fit into my game, so maybe in a few hours or a few days, it might rub off. But to be honest I’m just happy with the win and that’s all that matters.”So, how did Campher manage to compose himself before the hat-trick ball?ESPNcricinfo Ltd

“My heart was racing quite high, but I just took a few deep breaths at the top of my run and just tried to make sure I manage my skills,” Campher recalled. “Obviously, I didn’t really finish the last over as well as I wanted to, but I’m learning and I’m young. I’m just trying to do the best that I can.”Campher credited fellow seamers Mark Adair and Josh Little for handcuffing Netherlands in the powerplay and making life easier for him. Adair, in particular, operated with great control, coming away with 3 for 9. Only Kevin O’Brien has conceded fewer runs in a four-over spell for Ireland in T20Is.”Personally for me, it [four in four] gives us a lot of momentum,” Campher said. “As a bowling unit when you have three guys going under six, it makes a big difference. As far as a bowling unit, we’re really good I think. On another day, I can go for 10s and 12s, but the pressure that the guys built there managed to make me get the wickets. So, listened to Mark Adair, Josh [Little], Simi [Singh], and Whitey [Ben White], we hunted as a unit and I was actually lucky to get the results.”Campher was recently on the sidelines, a shoulder injury forcing him to sit out the three-match World Cup Super league series against Zimbabwe in September. He had injured his AC joint in his shoulder while diving on the field during his T20I debut in August. Prior to that, he had undergone surgery for a long-standing ankle problem. Quite naturally, he was pleased to be back in action although he didn’t expect his World Cup bow to be as grand as this.”I might sound like a broken record, but right now I’m just really enjoying my cricket. I’m just happy to be on the park and have this opportunity,” he said. “I think people take for granted if you play [for] a long time. When I got injured – obviously no one should have injuries – but to bounce back and actually just start enjoying my cricket, just grateful to be out there, whether I get hit for 60 or 70 or don’t score a run, I’m just happy to be out there and playing for my country.”

Almost two years after Sourav Ganguly had announced that the financial health of domestic cricketers would be his “biggest priority” as BCCI president, the board on Monday announced sizeable hikes in match fees for men and women at the end of its apex council meeting. The new pay slabs, which will be in place 2021-22 onwards, will have the senior men earning between INR 40,000 and 60,000 [USD 540 to 810 approx] per day while senior women will earn up to INR 20,000 [USD 270 approx.] per day.In another major update, the BCCI has also decided to allot 50% match fees “as compensation” for the Covid-19-affected 2019-20 season where the board could organise just the Syed Mushtaq Ali (T20) Trophy and the 50-over Vijay Hazare Trophy for the senior men.Related

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That hike is a small one for the players in the first category (under 20 matches), but an almost 100% hike for more experienced hands (40-plus games), while those who have played between 21 and 40 matches will earn INR 50,000 [USD 680 approx.]. Earlier, senior men’s cricketers earned INR 35,000 [USD 470 approx.] per day for first-class and one-day games, and INR 17,500 [USD 240 approx.] per game for T20s.The new pay slabs will apply to both first-class and limited-overs cricket.For the senior women, who earlier earned INR 12,500 [USD 170 approx.] per one-day match and INR 6250 [USD 85 approx.] per T20 match – there isn’t, currently, a first-class competition for women in India – the pay has been raised to INR 20,000 for playing XI members and INR 10,000 [USD 135 approx.] for those on the bench.There were upgrades for the age-group cricketers, both male and female, too.When he took over as BCCI president, Sourav Ganguly had promised to “look after the financial health of our first-class cricketers”•BCCI

Men’s Under-23 players will now earn INR 25,000 [USD 340 approx.] per day (earlier INR 17,500) if they are in the playing XIs, and INR 12,500 (earlier INR 8750) if in the reserves, while Under-19s in the playing XIs will get INR 20,000 (earlier INR 10,500) and INR 10,000 (earlier INR 5250) will go to reserve players. For the Under-16s, the corresponding amounts are INR 7000 (earlier INR 3500) and INR 3500 (INR 1750).For women, the daily fees for Under-23s, Under-19s and Under-16s have been raised from INR 5500 to INR 10,000 for those in the playing XIs and from INR 2750 to INR 5000 for those in the reserves.Till 2017-18, domestic players were paid in two instalments: a flat match fee and a bonus calculated on a pro-rata basis based on the BCCI’s gross revenue share (GRS) – its non-IPL earnings from media rights, team sponsorship rights, apparel sponsorship rights, series sponsorship rights, etc. This would be paid the following year after the accounts were ratified at the annual general meetings.Since 2018, though, the GRS component has been added to the match fees, leading to a near 200% hike for players. However, in the absence of AGMs in the past two years, the GRS component has not been ratified by the BCCI, which had left domestic players disgruntled. The pandemic then made things worse.But a few months ago, the BCCI formed a sub-committee to work out a new payment structure, including ways to compensate players who had taken a hit financially during the pandemic since March 2020.

Big picture

In case anyone thinks that players involved in the Hundred are only interested in the gravy train, they need only look at Liam Livingstone’s celebration after he swung Matt Fisher away for six to seal Birmingham Phoenix’s place in Saturday’s final: screaming, punching the air and yelling “come on!” before embracing his team-mate Tom Abell.There were raised eyebrows when Phoenix used their first pick in the Hundred’s inaugural draft on Livingstone, after the seven other teams had gone with high-profile overseas players, but he has made his doubters look silly, leading the competition in both runs and sixes. “It was obviously a big move to pick me up,” he said. “It’s nice to repay that faith they had in me.”Phoenix started the season slowly, squeezing past London Spirit in their opening game and then losing their next two, but won three high-scoring games on the bounce at Edgbaston and then sealed top spot with back-to-back victories in their last two group games, with Livingstone standing in as captain after Moeen Ali’s recall to the England side for the second Test against India.Moeen is back with the squad in the gap between the second and third Tests, a significant boost given his form with the bat in the six games he played: “We’re adding a world-class captain, a world-class batter and a world-class bowler,” Livingstone said. The pair are key in the middle phase of the innings, particularly with the bat but also with the ball.But Phoenix’s success has not been down to that pair alone. Will Smeed, the 19-year-old Somerset batter, has been a revelation as an opener, while Chris Benjamin, a 22-year-old keeper-batter who made his T20 debut the week the Hundred started, has been a key late-order hitter. They have been ultra-positive with the bat, to the extent that they are the fastest-scoring team in all three phases of the game (Powerplay, middle, death).With the ball, Adam Milne has been the standout, hitting speeds of 94mph/151kph and excelling both in the Powerplay and at the death. He is the most miserly bowler in the competition in terms of economy rate, closely followed by the self-titled “fast spinner” Benny Howell, who has backed up his remarkable Blast record for Gloucestershire by squeezing teams through the middle of an innings in tandem with the ebullient Imran Tahir.They play Southern Brave at Lord’s, whose captain James Vince admitted after Friday night’s eliminator that he hadn’t had the chance to plan for Saturday’s game but will doubtless be cramming into the small hours following a celebratory beer. It is hard to believe things can go quite as smoothly for them as they did against Trent Rockets; George Garton and Craig Overton effectively killed the game off inside the Powerplay before Chris Jordan and Tymal Mills got to work at the death, and Vince himself found the ideal tempo in a straightforward chase.Brave started the season with consecutive defeats – Mahela Jayawardene, their head coach and a notorious slow-starter at Mumbai Indians, joked with the players that they had kept up his 100% losing record in opening games – but have won six on the bounce after squeezing past Phoenix in their first home fixture.Their pace attack has been the key to their success, but Jake Lintott – the left-arm wristspinner and their wildcard pick after the Blast’s group stages – has been a star in the middle of the innings. His match-up against Livingstone and Moeen, both superb hitters of spin, could be where the game is won and lost.The elephant in the room is a poor weather forecast, which threatens to reduce both men’s and women’s finals to 25-ball-a-side matches. The ECB clarified on Friday night that they will look to ensure the finals are completed on Saturday rather than extending them into a reserve day, but with rain likely to fall throughout the afternoon in north London, there is every chance of a shortened game.

In the spotlight

Imran Tahir provided the Hundred with arguably its viral moment of the group stages when his hat-trick saw off Welsh Fire at Edgbaston. His passion for the game is undimmed even at 42, but he will have a major role when bowling to James Vince and Quinton de Kock in particular, both of whom have treated legspin with disdain in the tournament to date.With Jofra Archer missing the tournament through injury, Tymal Mills has been pitching his T20 World Cup case through the Hundred and it looks increasingly likely that he will be on the plane to the UAE after getting through the tournament without an injury, hitting speeds of 91mph/147kph, and being miserly at the death. Every game at this late stage is an opportunity to remind England of his worth, not least with the pressure of a major final at Lord’s thrown into the mix.Liam Livingstone leads the tournament charts for runs and sixes•Getty Images

Team news

Phoenix welcome Moeen back into the squad following England Test duty but are without Finn Allen, who has consistently got them off to flying starts in the Powerplay but has flown to Bangladesh for New Zealand’s T20I series. He is replaced in the squad by David Bedingham, Durham’s South African batter, but they may opt to leave him out with Tom Abell fit again. Moeen’s return and Livingstone’s success with the ball means they can afford to leave out the third seamer if they wish.Phoenix: (possible) 1 Will Smeed, 2 Miles Hammond/David Bedingham, 3 Moeen Ali (capt), 4 Liam Livingstone, 5 Tom Abell, 6 Chris Benjamin (wk), 7 Benny Howell, 8 Adam Milne, 9 Dillon Pennington, 10 Tom Helm/Pat Brown, 11 Imran TahirSouthern Brave left Danny Briggs out in the eliminator after looking at the pitch at The Oval and seeing some extra grass on the surface; Craig Overton was picked in his place and is likely to keep his spot given the forecast and the short square boundaries at Lord’s. Tim David, the Singaporean finisher, did not bat or bowl on Friday night after replacing Colin de Grandhomme, who has left to Bangladesh on New Zealand duty.Brave: (possible) 1 Paul Stirling, 2 Quinton de Kock (wk), 3 James Vince (capt), 4 Alex Davies, 5 Tim David, 6 Ross Whiteley, 7 George Garton, 8 Chris Jordan, 9 Craig Overton/Danny Briggs, 10 Tymal Mills, 11 Jake Lintott

Stats and trivia

• Despite playing half of their games on excellent batting pitches at Edgbaston, Phoenix have the two most economical bowlers in the competition out of bowlers to have bowled more than 100 balls: Adam Milne (1.05 per ball) and Benny Howell (1.13).
• The two batters with the highest strike rates in the tournament will open for their respective teams on Saturday, Phoenix’s Will Smeed (182.22) edging out Brave’s Quinton de Kock (177.27).
• This is the first domestic final at Lord’s since May 2019, when Somerset – captained by Phoenix’s Abell – saw off Hampshire to win the Royal London Cup.
• Phoenix finished top of the group stage despite making the lowest team total in the competition when they were bowled out for 87 by Manchester Originals.
• Brave edged Phoenix out in their group stage meeting, winning by four wickets with three balls to spare in the first game of their six-match winning streak.
  

Scorecard and ball-by-ball details5:13

Watch – Highlights of Lahore Qalandars’ successful chase

Lahore Qalandars demonstrated that they had learned plenty of lessons from yesterday’s demoralising loss to Quetta, beating Islamabad United by six wickets. Chasing 159, slightly under par, Lahore received a trigger-boost courtesy Brendon McCullum and Jason Roy, who smashed 36 off the first two overs. Roy, often criticised for not turning style into substance, then established a 71-run partnership with Umar Akmal to set Lahore up for the finish, and stayed unbeaten on 60. A late cameo from Sunil Narine then snuffed Islamabad out of the contest.The defending champions started ominously, and had raced to 73 for 1 after nine overs. Grant Elliott dismissed openers Dwayne Smith and Sam Billings in his first over. He accounted for two more wickets and a catch to halt Islamabad’s progress. Misbah-ul-Haq, the captain, rose to the occasion in a crisis, scoring 61 not out off 36 balls as Islamabad posted 158 for 7. The surface, however, was a belter and Lahore’s batsmen were far too explosive for Misbah’s men to keep them at bay.Where the match was won
With Billings and Smith rocking along at 73 without loss, and Brad Haddin and Shane Watson to follow, Islamabad looked to be in the form of the kind that helped them chase down 190 two nights ago against Peshawar Zalmi. Enter Elliott and the game changed. The medium pacer accounted for all four foreign recruits; his nagging, middle-stump line didn’t allow Islamabad’s batsmen to free their arms, and setting up a total that would have been significantly more challenging for McCullum’s side.The men that won it
On Friday, Roy looked in sparkling touch for the 14 balls that fetched him 27. The platform was set, but he threw it away. Today, though, he hung around after McCullum fell, turning in a much more sedate, yet tenacious batting performance, not dissimilar to the way his England captain Eoin Morgan batted in Peshawar’s seven-wicket win last night. Umar Akmal was lively at the other end, timing the ball beautifully in a 26-ball 35 to set the stage for Narine’s fireworks at the finish.The 21-run overs
Islamabad’s 34-year old left-arm spinner Imran Khalid, who has never played at international level, was given a baptism of fire today when Misbah asked him to open the bowling in the Powerplay with Roy and McCullum at the crease. It was an odd choice, and poor Khalid was evidently nervous; he bowled two wides and both line and length were all over the place. McCullum took a particular liking to him, thumping him for 21 runs in the over. It set Qalandar’s up for the chase. There was symmetry to the Lahore assault, with Watson also going for 21 runs in the 17th over, which put the game beyond all doubt.The moment of the match
There was a shot played in this match you might have to wait a while to see again, even in this T20 age. As Lahore’s Bilawal Bhatti came in to bowl, Billings looked set to play a scoop over fine leg. Wisely enough, Bilawal went wide outside off stump. Billings followed, holding his bat straight out in front of his chest. It was miles away when he tried to play the long-awaited scoop. The ball instead hit his helmet, and went to third man for four leg-byes. Who would be a bowler, really?Where they stand
Islamabad and Lahore now both have one win and one loss from their games, and two points each. Four of the five sides now sit on that number, with Karachi yet to register a win.

North Zone put themselves six points ahead of second-placed South Zone in the Bangladesh Cricket League points table after their innings-and-85-run win over Central Zone in Sylhet.Central Zone were bowled out for 181 in their first innings, as left-arm spinner Sunzamul Islam extended his good form with 5 for 45, his second five-for of the tournament so far. Farhad Reza took 3 for 41. Saif Hassan’s 63 was the lone half-century in Central Zone’s innings.Then Naeem Islam, Nazmul Hossain Shanto and Dhiman Ghosh struck centuries as North Zone piled up 537 in reply, taking a 356-run lead.Naeem top-scored with 142 off 285 balls that included 20 boundaries and a six. He added 197 runs for the fifth wicket with Shanto, who made 123 off 142 balls, including 18 fours. Naeem then added 126 runs for the seventh wicket with Dhiman, who struck 14 fours in his 113. Dhiman was also part of a 60-run partnership for the ninth wicket with Alauddin Babu, who chipped in with a 67-ball 54. Naeem’s 142 was his third successive hundred, and fourth overall, in the tournament, and took his run tally in the series to 567.Saif replied with a second fifty in the game, but Central Zone couldn’t wipe out their deficit and were bowled out 271 in 76 overs. Saif’s 98-ball 70 included eight fours and two sixes. Tanbir Hayder also struck 51.Babu took four wickets while Sunzamul took three to take his match haul to 8 for 159.East Zone lifted themselves up from the last place on the table after a draw against South Zone at the Zahur Ahmed Chowdhury Stadium in Chittagong. They finished the game with three points, while South Zone took only one point.Batting first, South Zone were bowled out for 296 after Mohammad Saifuddin and Saqlain Sajib took three wickets each. Imrul Kayes, who is attempting to prove his fitness for a spot in the second Test squad in Colombo, struck 136 off 210 balls that had 18 fours and two sixes. Anamul Haque made 58 but the rest of the South Zone batsmen crumbled.East Zone replied well, declaring on 523 for 7, which gave them a lead of 227 runs. Afif Hossain made 137 off 238 balls with the help of 17 fours. Tasamul Haque missed out on a century by two runs, while Alok Kapali (66), Mohammad Saifuddin (50 not out) and Rahatul Ferdous (60 not out) also struck fifties.On the final day, South Zone moved to 198 for 5 in 96 overs, with nearly all their batsmen getting starts.

Scorecard and ball-by-ball details3:27

Macpherson: Scorchers seem unstoppable now

An inspired opening spell of pace bowling from Mitchell Johnson set up a blistering victory for Perth Scorchers, booking them a home final at the WACA. Melbourne Stars were the victims, losing both their openers in Johnson’s first over, and they never really recovered, scrambling their way to 136 for 8, but ultimately losing by seven wickets with 19 balls to spare.Just as he did in the Scorchers’ last league game against Hobart Hurricanes, Johnson’s opening burst, which – on a low pitch – read 4-2-3-3, gutted the opposition, and from thereon his team-mates put on a typically clinical display. Johnson’s bowling colleagues remained relentless, while the chase was calm and calculated, with Shaun Marsh making his second successive half-century.In their fifth final (which will take place straight after their women’s team contest their first final), Scorchers have a shot at a third title. They will play Brisbane Heat or Sydney Sixers, who meet at the Gabba tomorrow. For the Stars, a fairly sorry season has ended with the return of their semi-final curse; five times in six years, they have fallen at the penultimate hurdle. Again, they have been hurt badly by their national team-heavy list.Mitch’s 3 for 3 off four
What a way to start a T20. What a way to start any game of cricket! Johnson began with a loosener at Rob Quiney’s hip. Quiney didn’t need to bite, but he did, guiding straight to the man at fine leg, one of just three posted on the leg side, for his second golden duck in three innings. Luke Wright had crossed, but after leaving, then defending, he slashed to Ashton Turner at close-in gully. Little Seb Gotch left the last ball of the over. A double-wicket maiden to begin.Five runs came off Johnson’s next over, but none off the bat. Another maiden.The opening ball of Johnson’s third over struck the most bitter blow for the Stars, with Kevin Pietersen – who had complained about the lack of pace in the pitch – flicking straight to midwicket. Marcus Stoinis blocked, left, swayed, then missed. The last ball was pushed into the leg side for one.Johnson was not done yet. Steaming in at 144kph, and with Stoinis having holed out off Jhye Richardson, Gotch and David Hussey took a single each. Johnson ended his four-over spell with 3 for 3, and a standing ovation from the WACA crowd. The Stars were 28 for 4 after seven overs. It was a truly magnificent spell.Seb Gotch hit 48 off 47 balls to resist Perth Scorchers•Cricket Australia

The recovery
Things got better for the Stars, but not hugely. Gotch and Hussey put on 52, targeting the spinners and the small boundaries. But when Hussey was caught trying to kick on, the wickets would not stop. Evan Gulbis and Ben Hilfenhaus briefly looked dangerous, but were both caught in the deep, while Gotch’s impish, enterprising innings was ended by a fine diving catch from Ashton Agar at mid-off. The tail swung and ran hard to drag them to 136, in the face of some very fine death bowling from Tim Bresnan. The Stars had done rather well to not be bowled out.Waltzing to a home final
The Stars had a bowling attack – full of canny seamers – nicely suited to the challenge posed by the pitch, but the target was always too slim. Michael Klinger went early, but Sam Whiteman came out swinging and Marsh looked in sublime touch. Whiteman looked to have edged behind on 13, but was not given, instead falling caught in the deep for 31. Adam Voges picked out midwicket, but out came Ian Bell to finish the job alongside Marsh with a delightful cameo. Indeed, a vintage cover drive to end it.Final pitch concerns?
Concerns over a pitch four days out might seem premature, but this is the slow track on which the final will be played, and by then it will have 20 more overs in it from the WBBL final, too. BBL could not farewell the WACA (Scorchers will play at the new Perth Stadium from next season) in a more appropriate fashion than a double Scorchers title; it would be even sweeter if it took place on a classic, ferocious WACA track.

A confrontation between James Anderson and R Ashwin provided a “sour end” to the fourth Test in Mumbai, according to Alastair Cook.Anderson, England’s last batsman, received quite the welcome party when he walked out to bat in the dying moments of the match. Ashwin, in particular, appeared to have taken exception to his comments on the fourth evening that seemed, at best, grudgingly respectful of Virat Kohli’s dominance, and accompanied him for much of his walk to the middle. While it is unclear exactly what was said, it seems safe to assume Ashwin was not offering his full support. Play was delayed briefly before Kohli and umpire Marais Erasmus stepped in to ensure order was restored.The England camp felt Anderson’s comments were, in Cook’s words, “blown out of proportion”. But while Cook accepted Ashwin and his team-mates were “sticking up for their captain” he still described the episode as unnecessary and disappointing.”It was a bit of a sour end really,” Cook said. “It was a disappointing end in terms of how well the spirit between both sides has been played.”It was clearly in reference to what Jimmy said yesterday which has kind of been blown out of all proportions, which it can do here. He was just stating a fact which if you asked Virat is probably quite true. But yes, it was obviously just sticking up for their captain which I thought was slightly unnecessary.”Kohli was more relaxed about the incident and confirmed that he had made his peace with Anderson and agreed to “move on”.”For the first time I was trying to calm things down in the middle at a time when [Anderson] is involved,” he said. “Ashwin wasn’t pleased with what he said in the press, but I didn’t even know about it. So I didn’t know what to make of it. I was laughing about it.”Ashwin wasn’t too impressed and he let him know, not using any bad words honestly. I think he told him he was pretty disappointed with what he said and it is important to accept defeat as it is. Things like that. Just general, you know how Ashwin is, he is to the point, he can really strike you well and he doesn’t need to say bad words. Later on I told James these things happen and let’s move on.”While Kohli said he was “not going to sit here and comment about someone else’s faults” he had already expressed his views. Having suggested England’s batsmen lacked “intent” as they battled to save the Test in Visakhapatnam, he told Star Sports after this match that England had played too expansively as they were “not so confident of their defence”.He may well have a point. Just as Anderson may have had a point about Kohli’s record in England and Parthiv Patel may have had a point about the limitations of England’s spinners and the early struggles of Jos Buttler in the first innings of this game. The way in which these views are expressed, which sometimes seems intended to goad the opposition, is the issue.But there is history between these teams. India felt England’s behaviour towards them was poor on the tour of 2014 – in particular, the alleged incident between Anderson and Ravindra Jadeja was never satisfactorily resolved from an Indian perspective – and England can feel their proud record against India crumbling by the moment.Either way, it all seems unnecessary. India have proved themselves the better side. No amount of comment will change the scoreline.

ScorecardChris Tremain picked up three wickets in his first five overs•Cricket Australia/Getty Images

It took Victoria less than a day to claim a first-innings lead in their Sheffield Shield game against Queensland at the MCG, where Marcus Harris and Peter Handscomb backed up the fine work of their bowlers. The Bulls won the toss and chose to bat but before tea they had been skittled for 137, as first Chris Tremain and Scott Boland, and later Jon Holland, caused problems.Boland bowled axed Test opener Joe Burns for 4 and Tremain picked up three wickets in his first five overs to leave Queensland at 4 for 11. But the young pair of Sam Heazlett and Jack Wildermuth, both inclusions for this match having missed the first game of the season, built a 62-run stand that provided some sort of fightback.The partnership ended when Wildermuth was stumped off Holland for 20, and Heazlett followed soon afterwards for 51. Holland effectively ran through the tail to finish with 4 for 32, while Tremain ended up with 3 for 26.Victoria suffered their own top-order dramas when Travis Dean and Marcus Stoinis fell early to leave the total at 2 for 8, but Harris continued his strong form in his first appearances for Victoria and made 75. Handscomb managed 60, and their 130-run stand was enough to give Victoria the lead. By stumps, the Bushrangers were 5 for 153, with Glenn Maxwell on 6 and Cameron White on 1.