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Canada’s coach Pubudu Dassanayake has chosen not to renew his contract once it expires at the end of the month after three years in the job.Dassanayake, who played 11 Tests for Sri Lanka, took up the position in 2007 but has decided not to extend his contract. Canada had a disappointing World Cup recently in Asia, where they won just a single match, but Dassanayake has overseen an improvement in the infrastructure in Canadian cricket.”I would like to thank the organization and the cricket community in Canada for the warm support our team has received over the past three years,” he said. “I would also like to express my sincere appreciation for those of you who supported me personally over the years and those who gave their time and efforts to help the team achieve so much in such a short time.”Though stepping aside from the main position, Dassanayake was keen to stay involved and pledged to assist Canadian cricket as much possible in the future.”I will always be available to assist Canadian cricket in whatever capacity I can to ensure that we keep moving forward and continue to build on what we have started,” he said. “Over the past three years we have taken massive steps both on and off the field and we now sit on the cusp of doing something very special on the international cricket scene.”While not all times were easy, they were necessary for our program to turn the corner. I have been proud to play a part in that and I wish all the players and the organization as a whole the best of luck moving forward.”

ScorecardPaul Horton helped give Lancashire a solid start against Sussex•Getty Images

Karl Brown continued his liking for the Sussex attack by top scoring with 88 as Lancashire took control on the first day of the County Championship encounter at Hove.Lancashire won their meeting at Liverpool earlier this month by an innings and today moved into a decent position to continue their unbeaten start to the season as Brown, who made his maiden Championship century in that game, helped his side reached 322 for 6 at stumps.It was a tough day for the Sussex bowlers on a sluggish pitch until Rana Naved-ul-Hasan took two wickets in four balls in the penultimate over. A short boundary on the pavilion side gave the hosts little room for error and, although Monty Panesar again bowled accurately, the seam attack often lacked consistency and also gifted Lancashire 36 runs through 18 no balls – including three in successive deliveries from Naved-ul-Hasan.Openers Paul Horton and Stephen Moore justified skipper Glen Chapple’s decision to bat first by posting a stand of 129 in 36.1 overs – Lancashire’s best opening partnership since September 2008. Their progress before lunch was untroubled apart from a ball in his first over by left-armer Naved Arif which Horton slashed just wide of Ben Brown at second slip.Panesar, who has already taken 11 wickets this season, was introduced into the attack after just 75 minutes by acting captain Murray Goodwin and the left-arm spinner at least brought some control to proceedings.The opening stand was finally broken 20 minutes after lunch when Luke Wright, playing for the first time this season following a knee injury, nipped one back off the seam to trap Moore leg before wicket for 49.Horton followed in the 45th over and would have been furious with a soft dismissal. Having batted for nearly three hours and hit 13 fours in his 78 he mis-timed a pull at Naved-ul-Hasan and the ball looped off the top edge to slip where Ed Joyce took a simple catch.Bat was soon dominating ball again, though, and Sussex needed a great bit of fielding by Ben Brown to prise out Mark Chilton for 32 after he and Brown had added 82 in 22 overs for the third wicket. Chilton was sent back by his partner at the non-striker’s end after pushing the ball to Brown and failed to beat his direct hit from mid-wicket.The persevering Panesar was finally rewarded in his 24th over, but first after switching ends, when Steven Croft’s ill-judged reverse sweep was comfortably taken by Brown for four.At 266 for four there was a glimmer of hope for Sussex, who took the new ball straight away, but Brown added 55 with another 20-year-old, Luke Procter, and was on course for another hundred against Sussex when he was well caught low down at slip by Joyce for 88 off 161 balls, including 11 fours.Nightwatchman Gary Keedy was caught behind three balls later without scoring to give Naved-ul-Hasan his third wicket, but it was Lancashire’s day.

The Surrey fast bowler Jade Dernbach has been named in England’s squad for Friday’s second Test against Sri Lanka at Lord’s, after James Anderson was ruled out due to a side strain suffered while bowling on the second day of the series opener in Cardiff.Dernbach, who replaces Anderson as the only addition to an otherwise unchanged squad of 12, remains uncapped at international level despite being called up to England’s ODI squad for the World Cup quarter-final against Sri Lanka in March. Dernbach wasn’t selected to play in that match but recently collected nine wickets for the England Lions in the tour match against Sri Lanka.Aside from a brief appearance as nightwatchman, Anderson did not feature in the latter stages of the first Test. However, his absence was not felt by his team-mates as they surged to an incredible innings-and-14-run victory after bowling Sri Lanka out for 82 in just 24.4 overs on the final afternoon of the match.Nevertheless, England will miss his new-ball abilities at Lord’s, a venue where he has claimed 36 wickets in nine appearances, including two of his ten five-wicket hauls. He will continue to receive treatment and rehabilitation before a decision is made on his participation in the third and final Test at the Rose Bowl, starting June 16.”It’s a very slight side strain, but you have to take these things on a case-by-case basis,” said England’s captain, Andrew Strauss. “Hopefully he’ll be around for the third Test, but we can’t guarantee it.”In Anderson’s absence, the likeliest replacement in the starting XI is Steven Finn, who was named in their 12-man squad for Cardiff but was omitted on the morning of the match. As a Middlesex man, he is familiar with the Lord’s wicket, and should he be chosen alongside Stuart Broad and Chris Tremlett, England’s three-man pace attack would rank among the tallest of all time.However, Strauss indicated that the variety provided by a shorter pace bowler was something that the selectors were considering. “We certainly want the option of a skiddier bowler, but whether he makes the final XI is another matter,” he said.National Selector, Geoff Miller, said: “It’s obviously disappointing to lose Jimmy Anderson for the next Test as he is world-class and the leader of our attack but we’re fortunate to have a healthy stock of pace bowlers at present. We’re hopeful Jimmy will be available for the third Test but in the meantime we’re excited by Jade Dernbach’s inclusion.”Jade is a talented young bowler and after excelling with the England Performance Programme over the winter he enjoyed considerable success with the ball against Sri Lanka while playing for the England Lions prior to the first Test.”ECB Chief medical officer, Dr Nick Peirce, said: “The nature of Jimmy’s injury is a grade one tear which is a low-end injury but given it’s a side strain we need to proceed cautiously which is why he has been ruled out of the second Test at Lord’s.’We have also taken into account the short turnaround between Test matches and we feel it is best for Jimmy to spend the next week receiving treatment and rest in order to give him the best chance for selection for the final Test in the series.”Once he has undertaken this period of rest and rehabilitation we will be able to make a definitive decision on his availability for the third Test.”England squad Andrew Strauss, Alastair Cook, Jonathan Trott, Kevin Pietersen, Ian Bell, Eoin Morgan, Matt Prior, Stuart Broad, Graeme Swann, Chris Tremlett, Steven Finn, Jade Dernbach.

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Stephen Peters just missed out on a century while David Lucas and Lee Daggett both hit career-best scores as Northamptonshire took a stranglehold on their County Championship game against Leicestershire at Grace Road. The Second Division leaders secured a first-innings advantage of 203 before declaring on 371 for 9 and then snapped up two late wickets to leave Leicestershire in trouble on 27 for 2 at the close.Lucas followed up his batting exploits by dismissing nightwatchman Jigar Naik and fellow seamer Jack Brooks grabbed the vital wicket of opener Will Jefferson to leave Leicestershire still needing another 176 runs to avoid an innings defeat. It was another hugely impressive day for Northamptonshire with the only surprise the fact that Peters missed out when he looked well set for his third championship century of the season.He fell lbw to Andrew McDonald on 96 but Lucas, sent in as nightwatchman at the end of the first day, continued to defy the Leicestershire attack until after lunch when he was out for a career-best 60. With Alex Wakely also posting a half-century Northamptonshire relentlessly moved into a commanding position against their bottom-of-the-table hosts.Northamptonshire began the day at 136 for 2, still 32 runs behind, and made steady progress as Peters and Lucas took their partnership to 66 before Leicestershire made the breakthrough.Surprisingly Peters was the man to go, rapped on the pads as he tried to work the ball away on the leg side. His 96 contained 14 boundaries and came off 188 balls.Another half-century stand developed between Lucas and Wakely, who announced his arrival with a straight six off left-arm spinner Claude Henderson. A cover drive to the ropes off Nadeem Malik brought up Lucas’ 50 and another boundary off Naik took him past his previous best score of 55.But Naik gained some compensation when he had Lucas caught at deep midwicket for his 60 that included nine fours and came off 132 balls. The second new ball brought Leicestershire some reward with Malik dismissing Niall O’Brien first ball and Matthew Hoggard removing Andrew Hall and James Middlebrook in the same over.But the home side were still unable to bring a quick conclusion to the innings with tail-ender Daggett also posting a maiden half-century off 87 balls with six boundaries before the declaration came. Leicestershire’s disappointing day was completed with the loss of the two late wickets and they now face an uphill battle to save the game.

Claire Taylor, the first woman to be named one of Wisden’s Five Cricketers of the Year, has retired from international cricket. Taylor has accomplished all there is to accomplish in the game, winning two World Cups and the Ashes. Her peak came in 2009, when England lifted the World Cup and she was named player of the tournament for her 324 runs at 64.80. She was awarded an MBE the same year and honoured by Wisden as one of their five cricketers of the year.In all, the 35-year-old Berkshire batsman represented England in 15 Tests, 126 ODIs and 27 T20s, making 1030 Test runs at an average of 41.20, 4101 ODI runs at 40.20, and 615 runs in Twenty20s. She also holds the record for the highest one-day international score at Lord’s by a man or woman – 156 not out against India in 2006.Taylor said it was the right time for her to call time on her international career, making the announcement after England beat Australia to win the Natwest Quadrangular Series. “Fitting in all the training amid an ever busier working life is becoming unsustainable, there just doesn’t seem to be enough hours in the week,” Taylor said in an ECB statement. “Physically I seem to need to spend more and more time in the gym recovering from injuries rather than training to get fitter. I’m getting old I guess.”There are so many people to thank who have helped me achieve my dreams. I remember sitting down after the 2000 Women’s World Cup in New Zealand and talking about my ambition of becoming one of the best batters in the world. It has been a long process with plenty of ups and downs, culminating in outstanding personal and team success with England in 2009.”The most important professional relationship of my career has been with Mark Lane, my coach of 14 years. Together we transformed my game so that I became the type of cricketer I always wanted to be.”Taylor also thanked the English Institute of Sport and the ECB for their support and help, and said the current England squad is full of promise. “The squad I’m leaving has huge potential and I wish them well for the future. There are some exciting players pressing for places from the England Women’s Academy, which points towards a bright future for England women’s cricket.”The ECB head of England women’s cricket, Clare Connor paid tribute to Taylor. “Her incomparable hunger to always improve, hard work, focus and mental toughness have combined to make her the best batter in the women’s game,” Connor said. “Claire has earned the respect of all who have played with her, against her, or who have had the pleasure of watching her.”Her tour de force was her 76 not out from 53 balls against Australia at the Oval to secure England a place in the final of the ICC World Twenty20 in 2009. The power, precision and clinical nature of that innings delivered a message on the biggest stage as to the enormous progress made in the women’s game: new fans and support were won, and perceptions were changed. As such, Claire should be hugely proud of the part she has played in the journey of the women’s game, and specifically England women’s cricket, during the last 14 years.”Taylor is the third international player to retire from the women’s game in the last couple of days, following Australia allrounder Shelley Nitschke,and New Zealand captain Aimee Watkins.

N Srinivasan, the BCCI secretary, has said the board will review the Indian team’s performance in England at the conclusion of the tour but believed the Test series would have been closely contested if not for a spate of injuries.India have been poor in England, losing the first two Tests by large margins and facing defeat in the ongoing third Test at Edgbaston. They will lose their No. 1 ranking if England win the series by a two-Test margin.India, however, were hit by injuries to key players – Virender Sehwag, Zaheer Khan, Gautam Gambhir, Harbhajan Singh and Yuvraj Singh – at various points during the tour. Srinivasan said it was important to take all the issues into consideration before evaluating the team’s performance. “You have to put things in perspective,” he told the . “We missed Zaheer Khan due to injury. Virender Sehwag was unavailable for the first two Tests. Gautam Gambhir had to sit out in the second Test. So we never had a full strength side. With everybody fit, we believe the series would have been a lot closer.”Of course, we will review the performance of the cricketers after the tour and will do what needs to be done. But at the moment a tour is going on and a one-day series will follow the Tests. So we shouldn’t jump the gun.”India captain MS Dhoni has struggled in England. His wicketkeeping has been poor, he’s scored only 126 runs in five innings and his captaincy has been criticised as well. Former India captain Ajit Wadekar, however, said Dhoni had been let down.”He has been let down by poor planning, scheduling, injuries and selection issues,” Wadekar told the . “This team is emotionally drained after the World Cup victory and never really got time to recover because of the IPL. The team came together in England from various places and didn’t click as a unit. Given the number of injuries, the selectors should have been more proactive in their thinking.”India played just one warm-up game before the start of the Test series, while several players were involved in back-to-back series – the World Cup, IPL, the tour of West Indies and England. One of the criticisms levelled against the BCCI is that it has failed to prioritise Test cricket.”It’s nonsense,” Srinivasan said. “Test cricket is the pinnacle of the game. We are not obsessed with the numbers like a section of the media. But when we reached the top of the Test rankings and stayed there for close two years, nobody raised these questions. Now, just after one bad series, criticisms are flying thick and fast. We must learn to be sporting. Being the No. 1 doesn’t mean we won’t lose a match or series.”Everybody wants to play for India and unless one does well for India he doesn’t become a big hit in the IPL. I believe all the players aspire to play Test cricket and do well there, because the performance in Tests matters most.”

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Mark Stoneman’s battling 74 couldn’t save Durham from defeat•Getty Images

Durham’s attempt to regain the County Championship that they won in 2008 and 2009 may not be over but it has grown significantly more difficult after Nottinghamshire, who took the title from them last season, sent them home with a third defeat in four matches.Chasing 321 for the victory that would take them ahead of Lancashire again, they were bowled out for 253 as Notts achieved their aim of proving then can still have a say in determining the outcome of this year’s title race.Chris Read’s side conceded some weeks ago that the pennant would be flying elsewhere next season but have not given up hope of claiming a share of the prize money by finishing in the top four. Moreover, they can have more influence on who takes first place when they face Warwickshire at Edgbaston in their penultimate game.Durham remain 10 points behind Lancashire and have only two matches left. The other contenders, which still include Somerset as well as Warwickshire, all have three.”We are not out of it,” their director of cricket, Geoff Cook, said. “Of course it depends on other results, but it is vital that we lick our wounds and put in two performances befitting of a side near the top of the league. But realistically it is going to be tough for us now.”In theory, Durham had two days in which to chase down the further 301 they needed when they resumed on 20 for 1 but while Cook insisted this Trent Bridge pitch has been a good one, most of the batsmen seemed to treat it with suspicion and there are not enough modern players with the patience to apply themselves for long periods.There is a tendency for batsmen to play surfaces with variable bounce and sideways movement as if one ball will inevitably have their name on it and this seems all too often to prompt somewhat gung-ho tactics.It was no real surprise then that, one down for 20 overnight, Durham lost a wicket to the fourth ball of the day when Michael di Venuto edged the ever-threatening Andre Adams to wicketkeeper Read.They suffered another setback in the fifth over when nightwatchman Mitch Claydon was trapped on the crease by the same bowler but the next pair did produce the level of application needed to give Durham a chance of pulling it off.Paul Collingwood’s willingness to leave balls he need not play hardly came as a surprise but it must have pleased Cook to see the much younger Mark Stoneman follow his example. The 24-year-old and the 35-year-old combined in easily the longest partnership of the match, grittily negotiating 27 overs through to lunch without further loss and adding 83 runs. It brought the target down to 203 which, with seven wickets in hand and the pitch flattening out, was one that , with due care, was not out of reach.But the good work was undone when Collingwood was out to the fourth ball of the afternoon, driving at Darren Pattinson but not quite getting to the pitch of the ball. Read took the catch.The blow was compounded by the loss soon afterwards of Dale Benkenstein, who got into a tangle in an attempted pull when Adams made one lift and come back at him, sending the ball skywards off a top edge, Read running around from behind the stumps to take the catch square of the wicket.There was still batting to come but, psychologically, the balance was now with Notts, more so after Stoneman met an unlucky end. Having grafted magnificently for more than three hours for his 74, he jammed down on a full length ball from Luke Fletcher but succeeded only in diverting it onto his stumps via a boot.The rest of the damage was done by the left-arm spinner, Graeme White, whose contribution to only his 13th first-class match has demonstrated that he has more to offer than just a role in one-day and Twenty20 games.He supplemented his three wickets in the first innings by taking the last four in the second, landing two telling blows when, for the second time in the match, he took a brilliant return catch to dismiss Ian Blackwell and then trapped Phil Mustard leg before.Mark Wood, the debutant bowler who had been made to suffer at times in his first discipline, acquitted himself rather well by taking a positive approach with the bat but in the end was stranded on 45 after Callum Thorp holed out when Steven Mullaney held a steepling catch behind the bowler and Read pulled off a characteristically adroit stumping to remove Ruel Brathwaite.”Stoneman and Collingwood played really well and it is disappointing that our main men were not able to take us a bit closer to the target but Notts bowled very well, in particular Andre Adams, exploiting Geoff Boycott’s corridor of uncertainty,” Cook added. “The fact that the game finished in three days reflected some poor batting and good bowling rather than anything in the pitch.”Durham had looked favourites to win a third title in four years when they went 23 points clear in June, having done the double over Warwickshire and Lancashire, but have since lost momentum and the absence of Ben Stokes and Graham Onions on England duty this week – and, potentially, for the rest of the season should they be retained for the India series – could not have come at a worse moment.”I never really felt it was in our grasp because we were always a game ahead,” Cook said. “We had played some good cricket up to then but people like Lancashire had played on some good wickets to get results on and Warwickshire have played some excellent cricket too, and after all 23 points is only one win, which is cancelled out really quickly.”

The PCB has advertised the job of Pakistan coach, and has set a 15-day deadline for applications. The three-man committee appointed to select the next coach, comprising ex-Pakistan players Zaheer Abbas, Intikhab Alam and Naushad Ali, met for the first time on September 8 to decide on the criteria for choosing candidates for the role.Ramiz Raja, who had agreed to assist the committee, could not attend the meeting as he was in Zimbabwe, where he is a commentator for Pakistan’s ongoing one-day series.The committee said the job of Pakistan coach was open to candidates from both within and outside Pakistan. Alam, who coached and managed the national side before and is head of the committee, said PCB chairman Ijaz Butt had given them the freedom to choose whoever they wanted as candidates. “The PCB chairman briefed us prior to our meeting and has given us a free hand in the search for the national coach,” Alam said. “We definitely will be considering both local and foreign applicants. The advertisement goes up today and will give interested parties 15 days to apply for the role.”We will scrutinise and interview the candidates and then the PCB will announce the coach in light of our recommendations. Also, the committee can approach someone on their own if they want to.” Alam also said that all the details of the meeting had been emailed to Raja, and confirmed that none of the committee members could themselves apply for the job.The committee was appointed on August 29 following current coach Waqar Younis’ announcement that he would quit after the tour of Zimbabwe due to personal and health reasons. There have been divided opinions on whether Pakistan should go with a local or foreign coach, with Abbas and Raja favouring the former while Alam said the second option was also something Pakistan should consider. Aaqib Javed and Mudassar Nazar, who have both been involved with coaching in Pakistan for several years, were two names that emerged as possible candidates for the role of head coach.

India will play its first ODI series at home after winning the World Cup in April when it takes on England next month in five ODIs starting in Hyderabad. Yet, rather than the series being a welcome return home for the current world champions, the squad is likely to look very different from the one that won the title as injury problems that stalked the team on its tour of England show no signs of abating. The team will be announced on Thursday but ESPNcricinfo understands that Sachin Tendulkar, Rohit Sharma and Yuvraj Singh are unlikely to be fit in time, while Ishant Sharma and Munaf Patel are also set to miss out.Tendulkar continues to struggle with his toe injury and his absence raises the question of how much more ODI cricket he will play, especially considering that outside of the World Cup, he has played only two ODIs this year.Rohit’s broken finger that ruled him out of the Champions League Twenty20 should also keep him out against England, while the ligament damage to Yuvraj’s finger is not healing fast enough. Meanwhile Ishant’s ankle is still ginger and he’s unlikely to be risked for the series. Ishant has said the ankle needs surgery but he is holding off until after the tour of Australia. Keeping him out of the series could be a precautionary measure to have him ready later in the year. Munaf injured his ankle during the ODIs against England and missed the Champions League.On the plus side, Gautam Gambhir has recovered from his concussion and is playing for Kolkata Knight Riders in the Champions League. With so many players out, Ajinkya Rahane, who impressed in England, should keep his place. It could also open the door for Yusuf Pathan to make a return to the side after he was not selected for the tour of England.Given that Zaheer Khan is already missing, the big question is the composition of India’s pace attack. Do the selectors fall back on Ashish Nehra, who has declared himself fit (no one from the board has spoken to him though) and has been bowling at full tilt in the nets over the last six weeks? Or do they plump for a completely new line-up fashioned around Praveen Kumar, with the likes of Umesh Yadav, Varun Aaron, Jaydev Unadkat, Abhimanyu Mithun and Vinay Kumar in the reckoning? The choices the selectors make will indicate how they plan to restock India’s bowling resources and whether they are thinking about the future.The identity of the spinners is also open to question, though to lesser degree. Harbhajan Singh is fit again and is the conventional, safe choice, but the pair of R Ashwin and Pragyan Ojha could be worth a gamble. Ashwin played in the 0-3 series loss to England and the selectors might want to see how effective he is in helpful conditions.India won the World Cup in April in grand style but have struggled somewhat since. They won the first three ODIs on the West Indies tour but lost the two dead rubbers, before going down 0-3 to England, though they did manage a tie in the fourth game of that series.

Dean Brownlie, the New Zealand middle-order batsman, scored a half-century on Test debut to lead his team to 426 against Zimbabwe in Bulawayo. He said he was pleased with his performance and had played according to the situation, which required New Zealand to score briskly.”If you’d told me I’d get 63 at the start, I probably would have taken that in my first innings,” Brownlie told . ”I was probably a little bit more nervous than usual but once I got into it I just had to trust my game and my instincts that got me there to start with.”Brownlie began his innings in the second over of the day, after Ross Taylor was dismissed without adding to his overnight 76. He put on 45 for the fifth wicket with BJ Watling and 81 for the sixth with Daniel Vettori. Brownlie’s 63 off 133 balls spanned two and a half hours before an attempted slog sweep against Ray Price resulted in an edge to slip.”Obviously you’d like to get more and push on to a hundred but the situation required me to be positive and look to score quickly,” he said, “So I don’t regret anything and I’m definitely happy with it.”Brownlie, 27, was born in Perth, where he developed his game against pace and became a natural back-foot player. He only moved to New Zealand in 2009, qualifying to play for them through his Christchurch-born father, Jim. Brownlie said he was at ease against spin, though, and was able to cope with Price’s left-arm orthodox.”Growing up in Perth, you obviously get tested with the short ball quite a bit and I feel comfortable off the back foot, but I’d like to think I’m strong off the front foot as well,” he said. ”I’m confident against spin, I try and stick to same principles.”Wickets tumbled at the Queens Sports Club after Brownlie was dismissed with the score on 401, and New Zealand lost five batsmen for 25 runs to finish short of the 450-500 total Martin Guptill had targeted on the first day. Brownlie, however, said the pitch had changed from the placid first-day track, after Zimbabwe ended the second on 82 for 1.”If we can get a couple of early wickets tomorrow and bring the spinners into the game, hopefully we can get through them [Zimbabwe] and have another go at them,” he said. ”Definitely, it’s starting to turn so that brings Jeetan Patel and Dan into the game. Dougie [Bracewell] and Tom [Chris Martin] bowled pretty well today, too, and with a little bit of luck we could’ve had them two or three down.”New Zealand’s next series, after the one-off Test in Zimbabwe, is a tour of Australia and Brownlie said he was eager to take them on. ”I’ll get in a four-day match for Canterbury after Zimbabwe and hopefully I score some runs and get picked in that squad. You want to test yourself against the best and I’ve watched Australia dominate world cricket for the past 20 years so I’d love to take them on.”