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ScorecardCharlie Shreck set up Leicestershire’s chase with his best figures for Leicestershire•PA Photos

Leicestershire established themselves as firm favourites to claim their first Championship victory in 38 attempts after being left a modest target of 163 in their Division Two clash with Essex at Chelmsford.They go into the final day on 55 without loss after Charlie Shreck had claimed his best figures for the county. He picked up 5 for 71 in 26.2 overs as Essex were bowled out in their second innings for 276, three of his wickets coming with the new ball as the home side lost their last five wickets in the space of nine overs for 20 runs.Shreck’s hostility and accuracy proved far too much for all but Tom Westley and Ryan ten Doeschate. The fifth wicket pair displayed a determination and technique that appeared beyond their colleagues after coming together at 92 for 4 and with their side still 22 short of wiping off a first innings deficit of 114.With ten Doeschate providing the main aggression, they gathered 128 in 32 overs and they looked in such little trouble that it seemed the visitors would be left with a more formidable victory challenge. But all that changed when Shreck found the edge to have ten Doeschate caught in the slip cordon for 77, a contribution that included nine fours in an innings spanning 101 balls.His departure came with the total on 220 and 36 runs later, Westley’s valiant effort was brought to an end by Ben Raine. The paceman, who picked up career-best figures of 48 in the first innings trapped him leg before wicket with the batsman just three runs short of his first century of the summer.Westley’s watchful resistance spanned just over five and a quarter hours and brought him a dozen boundaries. His removal led to a rapid decline in the innings as Shreck got to work and of the last five batsmen, only James Foster with 22, managed to reach double figures.Raine finished with 3 for 59 while Clint McKay picked up 2 for 57 as the pair provided Shreck with fine support. The trio were then able to put their feet up and watch Angus Robson and Matt Boyce launch their side’s victory bid on a firm foundation against bowling that lacked the incisive edge to cause the openers problems.Robson, who anchored Leicestershire’s first innings with a superb century, reached the close on 34 whilst Boyce will resume in the morning with 20 and his side requiring just a further 108 runs to celebrate a long-overdue triumph.

Scorecard and ball-by-ball detailsChange of captaincy did little to change the fortunes of Karachi Kings as they went down by nine wickets to Islamabad United in the PSL eliminator at the Dubai International Stadium on Saturday.A top-order wobble proved too costly as they slipped and slid to a below par 111 for 9 after being sent in to bat. Islamabad lost Sharjeel Khan early, but two of their experienced overseas professionals – Dwayne Smith and Brad Haddin – made light work of the target, winning with 34 balls to spare. Along the way, they also sounded out a note of caution for Peshawar Zalmi, their next opponent, ahead of the grand finale.That only three Karachi batsmen managed to get into double digits summed up the plight of the side that was led by Ravi Bopara after Shoaib Malik stepped down as captain on match eve.That Karachi were lifted out of the hole they found themselves in at 39 for 4 was courtesy Bopara, who top-scored with a fighting 37 before Mohammad Sami scythed through the lower order to finish with incredible figures of 5 for 8 off his four overs.Sohail Khan gave Karachi a boost upfront as Sharjeel fell for 9 in the fourth over, but Smith, playing in only his second PSL game, drove the chase forward in Haddin’s company; the former Australia wicketkeeper playing the role of an aggressor, hitting an unbeaten 52 off just 29 balls courtesy four fours and three sixes. Smith finished on 50 not out as Islamabad, who began the tournament slowly, appeared to have revved up their engine when it matters the most.

The BCCI working committee has decided to set in motion the process for hiring a chief executive officer (CEO) and chief financial officer (CFO) for the board. The decision was taken at the working committee in Mumbai on Friday, which was followed by a special general meeting (SGM) of the board. The big domestic news to come out of the SGM was the decision to grant full-member status to Chhattisgarh State Cricket Sangh – meaning they will now play BCCI tournaments including the Ranji Trophy, taking the number of Ranji teams up to 28.On the international front, it was decided to rework the BCCI’s future tours programme (FTP) for the period 2016 to 2023, to “ensure equitable distribution of the matches”. Following the ICC revamp in 2014, when the main FTP-setting powers passed from the ICC to the individual boards, the BCCI signed bilateral agreements that confirmed India would play the most Tests (20) against England from 2015 to 2023, followed by Australia (16) and South Africa (12), with teams see as less attractive opposition seemingly losing out.The creation of the post of a CEO was a change recommended by the Lodha panel, which had looked into the governance of the board, and submitted a report with the Supreme Court of India, which was then passed on to the BCCI. One of the big recommendations dealt with the board separating its governance and management duties, with the CEO taking charge of the management side of things. The board was supposed to let the court know by March 3 about the implementation of all the recommendations. “If you have any difficulty in implementing it, we will have the Lodha Committee implement it for you,” Justice Thakur had told the BCCI counsel.IPL chairman Rajiv Shukla, though, said the board’s decision to create the posts had nothing to do with the Lodha recommendation. “This is based on the ‘Project Transformation’ report,” Shukla said. In October, auditing giant M/S Deloitte was hired for “Project Transformation”, the board’s initiative aimed at improving governance, and operational and financial processes, according to a statement explaining the project on the BCCI’s website.With regards to the Lodha recommendations, the BCCI decided to file an affidavit in the Supreme Court to point out the “anomalies” in the Lodha report, and the “difficulties” encountered in the implementation of all its recommendations. While BCCI secretary Anurag Thakur said the affidavit will be filed on March 3 – the deadline given by the Supreme Court – IPL chairman Rajiv Shukla said it would be done earlier. “We will file our affidavit before the deadline. KK Venugopal is appearing for us [in this case],” Shukla said.

The ICC match referee Andy Pycroft has reportedly told the Oman team management that the other teams playing the first round of the World T20 in Dharamsala had agreed not to mankad batsmen. Oman, however, stuck to their stance of wanting to mankad, only budging to agree to give the batsman a warning.Mankading – the run-out of a non-striker backing up before the ball is delivered – has become more common in a highly competitive environment and is a hotly debated subject because it is considered not to be within the spirit of the game, though it is a legal form of dismissal.In fact, ESPNcricinfo has learned that before the Asia Cup qualifying round, the Asian Cricket Council met with the four Associate teams and instructed them not to mankad. Oman’s Aamir Kaleem, however, mankaded Hong Kong’s Mark Chapman in the tournament. That dismissal came shortly after West Indies Under-19 bowler Keemo Paul had mankaded the last Zimbabwe wicket to win a knockout match in the World Cup in Bangladesh.The view of the other teams in Dharamsala regarding mankading – as conveyed by Pycroft to Oman – rung true during Ireland pre-match press conference. When asked if they had discussed Oman’s stance on the mankad, Ireland captain William Porterfielsd made it clear that it was not how he wanted to play cricket.”That is not something that we will be doing,” Porterfield said. “That is not something I necessarily agree with. To each their own, I guess. If they feel it is a genuine way of taking a wicket, it is up to them, how they want to play the game. It is not for me [to judge them]. We will make sure we stand the ground. We have just got to accept that is the way they will go about it, if they do about it that way.”Sultan Ahmed, the Oman captain, said he did not see why a bowler should not run out a batsman who is taking unfair advantage. “If they don’t want us to mankad, why is it in the rules then?” he asked. “We saw in the under-19 World Cup that West Indies manakded, and went on to win the cup.”When asked what he made of the debate around the spirit of cricket, Ahmed asked the batsmen to follow the spirit too. “It is not us who are in breach of the spirit,” he said. “It is the batsmen who is violating the spirit by stealing yards even before the bowler has bowled. It is almost cheating.”It is interesting that the ICC felt it necessary to bring up mankading on the eve of the World Twenty20. One of the match referee’s jobs is to anticipate and tackle trouble before it occurs, but what exactly is the trouble in this case is ambiguous. As the game gets increasingly professional and the stakes higher, especially for these teams: only one out of four goes through to the main draw, it is time the ICC formalised its view as opposed to holding unofficial meetings before the start of a tournament.

ScorecardMarcus Trescothick notched a half-century, having passed Peter Wight on Somerset’s run-scoring list•Getty Images

Spectators at The Oval spent much of the day moving in and out of cover. Those that remained after the third rain delay deserve credit: only a matter of miles away, hail was falling in the capital. While that threat failed to make its way south, those hearty few might not have minded after seeing Marcus Trescothick further cement his legend in domestic folklore. In his 23rd season as a first-class cricketer, he became Somerset’s second-highest run-scorer of all time.Many knew it was coming. When Tom Curran was guided down to third man for four to move Trescothick on to 13, Tom Abell made a note of shaking hands with the 40-year-old, who passed Peter Wight’s total of 16,965 with the boundary. Neither Curran nor Abell had been born when Trescothick made his first-class debut in 1993.Now only Harold Gimblett stands in his way. But with more than 4000 runs needed to topple the 1953 Cricketer of the Year, second might have to do.It is still a baffling achievement, quite frankly. Looking through Trescothick’s first-class numbers requires a few double-takes. It seems inevitable that by the end of the season he will have passed 24,000 first-class runs. If those runs are as easy to come by as they were at The Oval, where he brought up his 177th score of 50 or more, then 25,000 is well within reach.There is a temptation to watch each aspect of Trescothick’s game still on public display – the effortless straight drives with Dalek-like footwork or the caresses through backward point that belie the tree-trunk willow and Popeye forearms – and sink back into “what ifs”. What if his Test career hadn’t been cut short? What if this otherworldly opener was saved from the very human troubles that affected him?But here he is, aged 40, still playing the game he loves, still achieving and getting things done. The only noticeable difference is that he now requires four eyes to do so. Somerset started their first innings 463 behind but you could not tell there were any external forces affecting Trescothick, now batting in spectacles, and the matter at hand.Surrey’s opening duo of Tom Curran and Mark Footitt started a bit too wide but, when they eventually got their lines right, Trescothick pulled out his patented curtain-rail leave. On a handful of occasions, Curran, having moved to around the wicket, thought he had the left-hander beaten. But Trescothick was simply moving his bat inside the line of the ball. It was a feather in Curran’s cap that Trescothick did not score off 32 of the 37 balls he sent his way. Footitt and Ravi Rampaul were not quite so lucky.While Footitt would bag the only Somerset wicket of the day – Abell hooking high to Arun Harinath at deep square leg – he was also hit for three fours in an over by Trescothick, the first of which brought up his fifty from 75 balls, before being cut ferociously over backward point for the innings’ first six. Rampaul, too, was not allowed to settle as he was carted through point when offering a bit of width.The morning session was a peculiar mishmash of Surrey trying and failing to make their last five wickets count and Somerset curtailing them while dropping catches.Zafar Ansari, who was let-off the previous evening on 28, was shelled yet again with 42 to his name. He would go on to complete his half-century off 111 balls before offering a third chance with his 112th, which Trescothick managed to hold at second slip. Curran and Gareth Batty were both run out through indecision and fine work by Roelof van der Merwe, respectively, before Footitt found cover to round off a lower-order collapse of 5 for 69.From the wreckage, Tim Groenewald emerged with 5 for 94 – his second five-wicket haul for Somerset. Ryan Davies, in his first season after signing from Kent, took his first Championship catch for the county when Ben Foakes nicked behind for the first wicket of the day.When stumps was eventually called after a lot of back and forth between the players, umpires and the ground staff, 43 overs had been lost. Trescothick and Chris Rogers reconvene on Tuesday, still 364 behind but knowing that the weather has given them a helping hand in saving this match.

Eight additional games in next season’s Big Bash League will not necessarily mean adding another week to its length, as Cricket Australia tries to balance the burgeoning tournament with the international summer and the domestic competitions beneath them.Even as they are embroiled in negotiations over the next MOU, the nation’s cricketers are broadly supportive of the adding of one extra home game for each of the BBL’s eight teams, meaning 10 qualifying matches per team and 40 overall before the semis and the final. The decision to expand was reached late last year after what the BBL chief Anthony Everard described as “around 18 months” of discussions about how to grow the tournament without moving too fast, too soon.Rather than adding to the number of teams, the extra matches will be a welcome addition for the broadcast rights holders at Ten, while at the same time affording opportunities to take matches to venues like Canberra and Geelong – both centres having agitated for extra fixtures and ultimately teams of their own.”We feel we could fit the extra games within the existing window if we wanted to,” Everard said on Friday. “There’s no question the school holiday period and the window we currently occupy has proved very popular with fans. Alternatively we could push it out by one week and play the BBL final in that first weekend of February, which is actually what we did a couple of years ago. So we’ve got those options available to us.”It’s something we’ve been looking at for probably 18 months now, and we had a few different options available to us. We felt adding the extra eight games, one more home game per club was the best way of driving the BBL strategy and attracting new fans. That decision was made late last year, and we’ve got a busy couple of months now to bring it to life.”We’ve acknowledged that cricket’s done a great job over the years in serving the major metropolitan centres and there’s a real opportunity with the BBL to potentially open up new markets and give existing or new cricket fans the opportunity to experience the BBL live.”There has been concern among the players about scheduling, and about the marginalisation of the Sheffield Shield in particular. However the ACA chief executive Alistair Nicholson was supportive of the move. “Congratulations should rightly go to the players and to Cricket Australia for the development of a terrific domestic cricket tournament,” he said.”Over the past six years the players have supported the innovation required to make the Big Bash a huge success, both on and off the field. Record crowds, record TV audiences, and the attraction of fans of all ages indicate a growing appetite for T20 cricket in this country.”Ahead of the BBL final between the Perth Scorchers and the Sydney Sixers in Perth, Everard said that CA had discussed the possibility of locking in the location of the tournament final in the future, perhaps rotating from major centre to major centre on a year-by-year basis. However he also made it clear that this was not a possibility in the short term, as sell-out crowds at the Gabba and the WACA Ground this week have demonstrated the value of home finals being earned by competing teams.”We have looked at the possibility of locking in a location for the final,” he said. “I think at the moment we’re pretty happy with the current formula – we saw in Perth a couple of nights ago and in Brisbane how passionate the local fans are, and I think the final sold out in about an hour. We want to make sure local fans have an opportunity to get along and support their team, so we’re committed to that in the short term.”One example that CA could look towards in the future is that of the US College football playoffs, where the two semis are rotated among the venues for the six major college bowl games, with the location of the final decided at the end of a bidding process not dissimilar to that used for the NFL Superbowl.The WBBL, meanwhile, is set to remain in its present 58-match configuration, though the number of venues may also be set to expand. “The opportunity to expand matches into non-traditional markets is not just limited to the men’s game,” Everard said. “We are working to see how we can also schedule Women’s Big Bash League matches in these new venues, once they are finalised.”

Moises Henriques was a hotel room key away from being among the players suspended for “Homework-gate” on the 2013 India tour, but may now play a key role in Australia’s effort to build subcontinental momentum by beating Sri Lanka at home in July and August. Henriques and the fit-again fast bowler Mitchell Starc have been named in the 15-man Test squad for the Sri Lanka tour.

Australia squad for Sri Lanka Tests

Steve Smith (capt), David Warner, Jackson Bird, Joe Burns, Nathan Coulter-Nile, Josh Hazlewood, Moises Henriques, Usman Khawaja, Nathan Lyon, Mitchell Marsh, Shaun Marsh, Peter Nevill, Stephen O’Keefe, Mitchell Starc, Adam Voges

The recalls of Henriques alongside Starc were the key outcomes of the touring party announced for Sri Lanka on Tuesday, with the selectors unable to consider Peter Siddle or James Pattinson due to injury. This and the continued struggles of Glenn Maxwell to find a place of batting maturity opened the way for Henriques’ recall, the first time he has been part of the Test squad since the South Africa tour in February and March 2014.The only Tests of Henriques’ stop-start career were in India the year before, where several staunch batting displays were offset by unpenetrative bowling and the wider issues then engulfing a divided and unsettled team.After the former coach Mickey Arthur’s ultimatum for individual player feedback following a heavy defeat in the first two Tests in Chennai and Hyderabad, Henriques was set to miss the deadline through forgetfulness. He was bailed out when a defective room key sent him down to reception, where a teammate reminded him of the task.Even so, Henriques still has much to prove in the Test arena, and may now get the chance in a series that will emphasise the speed of Starc but also a balance between pace and spin.”This squad has proven experience in subcontinental conditions,” the national selector Rod Marsh said. “Henriques comes into the squad to give the flexibility of an additional allrounder option, having already shown he plays and adapts well to spin-friendly conditions. He has been working hard with his fitness and we believe he is in prime condition to serve us well should he be selected to play.”Jackson Bird and Nathan Coulter-Nile join the squad and will give us good control and pace. Jackson had an impressive Sheffield Shield season and showed skill with reverse swing in the last Test match in New Zealand earlier this year. He’s playing in England at the moment and we’re confident this will build his skills to assist the squad if he is selected in Sri Lanka.”Stephen O’Keefe will complement Nathan Lyon and plays an important role in the subcontinent if he’s selected in the final XI. We know his ability, he takes wickets continually in first class cricket and he impresses when we select him to play Test cricket.”The first Test in the three-match series begins in Pallekele on July 26.

Victoria Sporting Club’s players met the BCB chief executive Nizamuddin Chowdhury on Thursday, to inform the board that they were yet to be paid their dues for playing in the Dhaka Premier League.By this time, the players should have been paid at least 60% of their dues. Following the pre-season player draft, the BCB had instructed the clubs to pay 30 per cent before the start of the league, 30 per cent at the end of the league’s first phase, and the remaining 40 per cent six weeks after the end of the Super League. On Sunday, the BCB president Nazmul Hassan had given the clubs who hadn’t paid their players 72 hours to pay the dues or face action, and said the BCB would pay the players in the interim.With the deadline having passed on Wednesday, the Victoria players said they remained unpaid.”Only one of our players got 40 per cent payment,” Nadif Chowdhury, the Victoria captain, said. “The rest got between ten to thirty per cent. Many of us can’t go back to our hometowns for Eid without this payment. The players are disappointed. We are all professional cricketers who are being harassed for getting our dues. The CEO has said the board will look into the matter. We remain hopeful.”The Victoria players had intended to meet the BCB CEO nine days ago, but their club president Nisar Uddin Ahmed Kazal stopped them, and said he would pay their dues by June 15. But that did not happen.Nadif said part of the problem this season was the player draft. Previously, under the players’ transfer system, payment and signature went hand-in-hand between player and club. Under the draft system, the clubs can be less punctual with payments in the knowledge that the players are tied to playing for them, and cannot negotiate with other clubs.”The conventional players’ transfer system was much better,” Nadif said. “Under that system, we got a large chunk of the agreed amount before the league started. Sometimes we got around 80-90 per cent. Now we are hardly even getting half of that amount. We are sad that nobody is following the instruction given by the board.”Chowdhury said the BCB would talk to all the clubs about their payment situation before taking any decision. “The board’s ultimatum to the clubs has just ended,” he said. “The Victoria players met me. Some other players also sent their complaints. We are also contacting a number of clubs. We will take measure after receiving all relevant information.”

Former India captain Anil Kumble and former cricketers Pravin Amre and Lalchand Rajput are among some of the applicants who will make presentations to the BCCI’s three-member cricket advisory panel that will pick India’s head coach. The presentations and interviews will be conducted in Kolkata from Tuesday.It is understood that Kumble and Amre will meet the panel, comprising Sachin Tendulkar, Sourav Ganguly and VVS Laxman, on Tuesday afternoon. It is not yet known whether Ravi Shastri, who was India’s team director until the end of the World Twenty20, will also make a presentation. Shastri, who confirmed his application in early June, did not respond to the query sent by ESPNcricinfo.Sandeep Patil, the chairman of selectors, has reportedly not yet received any communication from the BCCI. Patil had stated earlier this month that he had applied for the job.Last week, the BCCI had trimmed the list of 57 names to 21 but clarified that the advisory committee could be given the entire list if required. The committee is expected to submit its choice by June 22. If it does so, the BCCI could announce the appointment at the working committee meeting in Dharamsala on June 24. In an interview with , Ganguly did not divulge the names of the shortlisted candidates but said that the committee was hopeful of finalising a coach by June 24.”The interviews will start from tomorrow. We know the candidates, we’ve shortlisted the candidates but unfortunately I cannot tell that to you. So please pardon me from doing that. Yes, as you said, the interview is tomorrow and hopefully by June 24 you will get to know the name of the Indian coach,” he said.According to a BCCI official, the advisory panel – which was appointed in June last year – has already met a few times to discuss procedures before it meets shortlisted candidates. It is also understood that the panel, including coordinator Sanjay Jagdale, has done “thorough homework” on the applicants who will travel to Kolkata on Tuesday. When asked whether the interview process will extend to Wednesday, the official said that a decision on that would be taken on the basis of what happens tomorrow.The BCCI is seeking a coach for the India team after Shastri’s contract expired at the end of the World T20 earlier this year. The board opened the process on June 1, with an advertisement on its website, and had set June 10 as a deadline for candidates to apply for the role.Apart from Shastri, Patil and Kumble, current selector Vikram Rathour, Venkatesh Prasad, Balwinder Singh Sandhu and former Bangladesh coach Stuart Law also applied for the job.Among the key qualifications stipulated by the BCCI was that candidates should have coached at the international or first-class level. It was also mentioned that “it is preferred that the candidate should be qualified through a certification/assessment program conducted by any of the Full Member countries, and currently possess such a valid certification.”

South Africa is set to get a T20 Premier League of its own after the board was presented with a proposal for an eight-team tournament, which will run separately to other domestic cricket in the country. If approved, the competition will begin in the 2017-18 season and will take place in November-December, with a final pencilled in for December 16, a public holiday in South Africa.Should the new tournament become a reality, it would drastically alter South Africa’s twenty-over landscape, which is languishing behind other countries. While the IPL, BBL, CPL, BPL, PSL and NatWest T20 Blast continue to attract big names, South Africa’s Ram Slam competition has struggled to do the same. The weak Rand and the scheduling – which often coincides with international cricket, including fixtures played by South Africa – are to blame.CSA intended to fix the second of those this season, when, in February, they moved a Test against Sri Lanka to ensure South African internationals could be available for the Ram Slam. But, when the domestic fixtures were announced in June it emerged that several players will be unavailable for that tournament because they will be playing Test cricket in Australia, meaning the 2016-17 Ram Slam will not be too dissimilar to its predecessors.There will be at least one big name, with Kevin Pietersen signing for Dolphins for the second season in succession. South Africa’s domestic twenty-over tournaments have had a small selection of players of Pietersen’s profile involved, mostly from the Caribbean. In previous seasons, Chris Gayle played for Dolphins, Kieron Pollard for Cobras, Sohail Tanvir for Lions, Andre Russell for Knights, and Darren Sammy for Titans, but the domestic transformation targets and the small number of franchise teams make it difficult to attract more big names.For that reason, there has been talk of an expansion into eight franchises, which CSA is mulling across all formats, but it is likely to be implemented in this new T20 event first. Details regarding the funding of the competition are yet to be revealed.