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ScorecardJames Anderson and Keith Barker go face-to-face on a lively day•Getty Images

Birmingham doesn’t generally have too much in common with the Caribbean, but there were shades of Antigua about Edgbaston yesterday.It wasn’t the rum cocktails or sandy beaches – sadly there’s a noticeable absence of either in the Midlands – but there were some echoes of the aborted Test between England and West Indies at the Sir Vivian Richards Cricket Ground in February 2009 around Edgbaston on the second day of this match.Problems with the pitch have left batsmen and bowlers unhappy and raised some unsettling concerns for a ground that is looking forward to hosting a lucrative Test against India in August.The problem? Well, firstly the batsmen are struggling to deal with unpredictable bounce. Several balls have taken off and flown through at head height; others have scuttled along the floor. It is, in short, a poor pitch.But that’s OK. These things happen and the Pitch Liaison Officer, Chris Broad, left after the first day declaring himself satisfied.The more serious issue concerns the bowlers’ take-off area. The turf in the area is loose and is rendering it difficult for bowlers to keep their footing. The groundstaff were called upon several times during the day to take remedial action and, after play, Warwickshire’s captain, Ian Bell, suggested the whole area might require reinforcing with concrete before a Test is staged here.”The pitch isn’t ideal,” Bell said. “We asked for a good batting wicket and it has helped the seamers. Both teams agreed before the game that we’d be prepared to wait for the area to be dug out and repaired if necessary. Credit to both teams, though: they’ve just got on with it. But you don’t want to see anyone injured and it will have to be spot-on before the Test. Pro-active action might need to be taken.”Make no mistake: conditions are nowhere near as bad as they were in Antigua. The area affected here is relatively small and remedial action is possible.But it would also be a mistake to play down the significance of this issue. Such problems are not acceptable in international cricket and Warwickshire, who have done so much excellent work in redeveloping their ground to top international standards, have some more work to do on the most fundamental facility they offer: their pitch.To be fair to the club, there are mitigating circumstances for the problems. The outfield was relaid to improve drainage over the winter and the area where the new turf meets the old usually takes some time to bind. Though other grounds – and grounds that utilise drop-in pitches – have managed.The pitch for this game was also switched at late notice. The original track was deemed too dry a couple of days before the start, so the club elected to use a different strip that appears to have started damp. Which is odd, as it hasn’t rained in Birmingham for several weeks. As a result, the ball made indentations on the first day that are now providing extravagant assistance to the bowlers. There’s every chance this game won’t make it into the fourth day.If it does end early, there seems to be every chance that Lancashire will be the victors. It was the visitors who ended a day on which 13 wickets fell in the far stronger position, with a lead of 173 and the likelihood that conditions will only become more difficult for batting.Anyone attending on the second day might have expected Jonathan Trott or Bell to provide the batting highlights. But it was actually Steven Croft. The 26-year-old shrugged off several blows to the body to ensure Lancashire didn’t squander a strong position. When he came to the crease, with the score at 27 for 3 in their second innings and the lead just 82, Warwickshire were back in the game.The hosts, however, will rue a number of missed chances. Trott, at first slip, put down two straightforward chances off Boyd Rankin to reprieve Mark Chilton on 18 and Croft on 31. Rankin, at mid-on, also failed to cling on to a chance offered by Croft on just 10 off Chris Woakes.Earlier Warwickshire surrendered a first innings lead of 55 after they were dismissed for 172. Had it not been for an eighth-wicket stand of 56 between Tim Ambrose and Keith Barker it could have been even worse, with Ambrose defending bravely and counter-attacking fluently when the opportunity arose.”He looks as if he’s back to his best,” Bell said afterwards. “Which is great news for the club. I still think that when he’s on form, Tim Ambrose is among the best three wicket-keeper batsmen in the country.”Warwickshire’s better-known batsmen failed to prosper. Trott was drawn into pushing at one that bounced and left him, Mohammad Yousuf played on as he tried an extravagant drive and Bell, having seen off the pace bowlers, fell in Simon Kerrigan’s first over. It was a fine piece of bowling from the 21-year-old left-arm spinner, who lulled Bell into a false sense of security with two non-turning deliveries, before the next turned sharply and took the outside edge.Luke Procter, who had only taken one first-class wicket before this game, also impressed. Though he has an ungainly action and no great pace, Procter bowled a testing line and length and allowed the pitch to do the rest. As a result, Rikki Clarke and Chris Woakes were caught off deliveries that bounced on them more than they expected.Paul Horton, gloving a catch down the leg side, Stephen Moore, undone by one that kept low, and Karl Brown, who simply played down the wrong line, all fell early when Lancashire batted again. But thanks to Croft’s resilience, Lancashire resume on the third day with an excellent chance of registering their third win of the season in just their fourth game.”It’s not a minefield and, with our batting line-up, I’d like to think we could chase any target,” Bell said bravely afterwards. In truth, however, Warwickshire will have to bat superbly if they are to chase much over 200.

Alastair Cook has been named England’s new one-day international captain and Stuart Broad has been handed the leadership of the Twenty20 side in a major shake-up of the limited-overs teams. Andrew Strauss announced his decision to stand down as ODI captain to focus on his Test career, while Paul Collingwood’s run in the Twenty20 job is over as England look to the future.It means that England will have a different captain for each format of the game. Cook has previously led the team on the tour to Bangladesh last year when Strauss was rested, but for Broad it is his first captaincy role at a senior level and he’ll now be at the helm when England defend their Twenty20 title in Sri Lanka next year.”It has never been tried before so I am excited by the opportunity it provides us with,” Andy Flower, the England team director said of the three captains. “We don’t know 100% whether it will work and be the most efficient system but we’re going to give it a try.”On the Bangladesh tour Cook made scores of 64, 60 and 32 in a 3-0 victory in the ODIs, before anchoring England’s twin Test wins with a pair of centuries at Chittagong and Dhaka. Despite the relative paucity of the opposition, the challenge he faced in unfamiliar conditions was immense, not to mention the ignominy he would have faced had he failed to complete a clean sweep of five international wins out of five.Despite some doubts about the speed and power of Cook’s strokeplay, Strauss’s departure from the limited-overs scene creates a vacancy for an opener who can be relied upon to bat through an innings, and besides, with a powerful cut and an aggressive slog-sweep, Cook himself believes he has the ability to build on an ODI record of 858 runs at 33.00, with one century against India in 2007.”I’ve worked hard on my limited overs cricket in recent times – I’ve never seen myself as a Test batsman exclusively and I know I have a lot to offer strategically and as a top order batsman in one-day cricket,” he said. “I’m excited by the challenge of taking our 50-over cricket to new heights and I believe I can play an integral role with the bat as well as captain.”I will continue to work closely with Andrew and also Stuart as we form a leadership team across all forms of the game. We have the chance to work together and share ideas which will benefit our cricket in all three formats.”Collingwood, who captained England’s Twenty20 side on 30 occasions and oversaw England’s successful World Twenty20 campaign in 2010, retired from Test cricket following the Ashes earlier this year but remains available for the limited-overs side. Broad will make his debut as captain when he leads England’s Twenty20 side against Sri Lanka in Bristol on June 25.”It’s a huge privilege to be named England Twenty20 captain and form part of a leadership team that I’ve no doubt will work well together with a great deal of synergy,” Broad said. “I’ve always enjoyed playing the shortest form of the game and I relish the opportunity to develop my leadership skills as England’s Twenty20 captain. As captain the chance to work closely with Andy Flower is an extremely exciting one and as current World Twenty20 champions I know there is a real responsibility to continue the team’s recent success.”Strauss, meanwhile, has decided that, at the age of 34 and with four years to go until the 2015 World Cup, the time is right to follow the example of many leading cricketers of recent times, and retire from ODIs to concentrate on Tests. A tough home summer against Sri Lanka and India is looming, but the long-term goal is a repeat of his home and away Ashes wins, with the next series coming back-to-back in 2013-14.”I’ve enjoyed my time as England One-Day captain immensely and I’m extremely proud of the strides we’ve made in limited overs cricket over the past two years,” he said. “We still have a long way to go if we’re to achieve our goal of winning ICC global events and I feel now is the right time for me to step aside and ensure someone else takes up that challenge.”Retiring from one-day cricket will also enable me to focus solely on the Test captaincy and our ongoing development in the Test arena as we also strive to be the top ranked team in world cricket.”I look forward to working closely with both Alastair and Stuart as we work together to progress England’s development across all forms of the game. Both Alastair and Stuart are proven world-class cricketers and both have outstanding leadership qualities which will ensure England’s success for many years to come.”

Kings XI Punjab have signed South Africa batsman David Miller for $100,000 as a replacement for allrounder Dimitri Mascarenhas. Miller, who also bowls offspin, is expected to join the squad on Friday. He is the second replacement player signed by the franchise, with South Africa allrounder Ryan McLaren coming in for Stuart Broad.Broad picked up a side strain during the World Cup, while Mascarenhas has not yet recovered from surgery to fix his achilles heel injury.Miller, 21, has played six T20 internationals for South Africa since his debut in May 2010, with a highest score of 36*. He has also played in four ODI series, the last against India earlier this year, and was named in South Africa’s preliminary 2011 World Cup squad, but did not make the final 15.”The coach and captain were of the view that we wanted a batting all-rounder,” Aravinder Singh, the chief operating officer for Punjab, told ESPNcricinfo. “[Miller is] a young guy who has proved his value in South Africa cricket and debuted for South Africa recently. He is very excited about being here and we are expecting him to play a crucial role for us. “Under IPL rules, the replacements have to be chosen from the pool of players who went unsold in the January auction, and cannot be paid more than the players they are replacing, though they can be paid less, depending on their base price in the auction.

Jamaica dominated the first day of their third round game against Barbados at the Kensington Oval in Barbados. Barbados elected to bowl at got off to a good start when Jason Holder dismissed opener Simon Jackson and No. 3 Marlon Samuels in quick succession with the score on 39. However Danza Hyatt added 121 runs with captain Tamar Lambert (55) to steady the innings. Holder struck to dismiss Hyatt, who made 94, and Wavell Hinds, but David Bernard (84) and Chadwick Walton (33) added an unbroken 92 runs to take Jamaica to a commanding 316 for 5 at stumps. Holder was the most successful of the Barbados bowlers with figures of 4 for 57.Seamer Gavin Tonge took three wickets as Combined Campuses and Colleges were bowled out for 286 by Leeward Islands in their first innings at Sir Vivian Richards Stadium in Antigua. CCC started losing two wickets with just 18 runs on the board. Romel Currency and Kyle Corbin calmed the nerves with an 88-run partnership. Corbin and Raymon Riefer put on another half-century partnership to take CCC to 181. However once they were dismissed the remaining batsmen fell away as CCC were bowled out for 286. Leeward openers Montcin Hodge and Kieran Powell carried their team safely to stumps.Andrew Gale hit a century as England Lions reached 311 for 9 at stumps against Trinidad and Tobago at Queen’s Park Oval in Trinidad. England elected to bat and Gale, who made 110, featured in two half-century partnerships with James Hildreth (40) and James Taylor (66) to take England to 244. Shannon Gabriel struck to pick up three wickets as England’s middle and lower order fell away. Nathan Buck (11) and Jade Dernbach (0) were unbeaten at stumps. Gabriel and Rayad Emrit picked up three wickets apiece.Windward Islands were in control of their game against Guyana at Arnos Vale Ground in St Vincent. Opening bowler Nelon Pascal picked up five wickets as Guyana, who elected to bat, were bowled out for 142, with none of their batsmen able to get past 30. In reply Andre Fletcher made 43, as Windward reached 104 for 3 at stumps with Keddy Lesporis (14) and Keron Peters (4) at the crease.

Northern Districts held their nerve to clinch a thrilling one-wicket win over Central Districts at Fitzherbert Park to move to the top of the points table after the second round of the New Zealand Cricket one-day competition.Opener George Worker’s century anchored CD’s total of 280 after they were sent in to bat. CD lost Peter Ingram and Jamie How early, but Worker added 149 with Mathew Sinclair for the third wicket to set the base for a competitive total. Sinclair, who made 66, was dismissed in the 41st over with CD’s score on 206, and Worker followed in the next over. Kieran Noema-Barnett and Tim Weston blasted 64 off just 38 balls to provide the CD innings with a closing flourish. ND’s chase of 281 got off solidly with the openers BJ Watling and Daniel Flynn adding 88 within the first 18 overs. ND lost three quick wickets but Flynn’s 60-run fourth-wicket partnership with Brad Wilson, got the ND chase back on track. ND lost Flynn in the 43rd over but some big hitting from James Marshall and Bradley Scott, who was unbeaten on 25 off just 10 balls, carried them home, with just one ball to spare.Canterbury posted a comfortable 99-run win over Otago at the Queenstown Events Centre. Canterbury batsmen Rob Nicol, Michael Papps and Peter Fulton all posted solid half-centuries. Shannan Stewart and Andrew Ellis made unbeaten quickfire twenties as Canterbury reached 296 for 4 in their 50 overs. Otago started disastrously losing Aaron Redmond and Neil Broom with just 15 runs on the board. Michael Bracewell (68) and Craig Cumming (46) tried to salvage the innings with a 110-run third wicket partnership. However, once they were dismissed, the Otago innings lost momentum. The Canterbury bowlers never allowed the remaining Otago batsmen to get away as they were bowled out for 197 in the 47th over.Auckland beat Wellington by eight runs in a close game at Colin Maiden Park. The Auckland innings was anchored by captain Gareth Hopkins’ 96-ball 120. He shared crucial partnerships with Anaru Kitchen and Kyle Mills to power Auckland to a formidable 308. Wellington got off to a shaky start losing openers Josh Brodie and Stewart Rhodes within the first four overs with just five runs on the board. Grant Elliott and James Franklin put on 112 runs as the Wellington innings gained momentum. Harry Boam hit eight boundaries in his 36-ball 59 before he was dismissed. Wellington needed 45 runs off 24 balls at the stage and though Dewayne Bowden (23) got them close with some big shots, they failed to get across the line, falling short by eight runs.

ScorecardJharkhand’s Ishank Jaggi and Bengal’s Manoj Tiwary got centuries for East Zone on the first day of their Duleep Trophy quarter-final against Central Zone in Cuttack. East finished the day well placed at 328 for 5 as they battled with Central for a chance to play South Zone in the semi-final.After being put in to bat, East lost opener Natraj Behera early to Rajasthan seamer Pankaj Singh, who finished with three wickets in the day. Jaggi and Tiwary then put East in the driver’s seat with a 208-run partnership, but Central got a foot back in to the match with three wickets in the last twelve overs of play.

The confusion surrounding the one-day leg of West Indies’ tour of Sri Lanka has ended with Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC) announcing that the five-match series has been postponed to late January 2011 because of the bad weather all across the island. The decision, made after an understanding was reached by the boards and the television partner, was announced shortly before the first ODI was scheduled to begin in rain-hit Hambantota. West Indies will fly home on Friday.”The weather in Sri Lanka has been most disappointing throughout the tour and a practical decision had to be taken in the best interest of cricket, the fans and the players,” WICB chief executive, Ernest Hilaire, said. “It made little sense to have the teams turn up for matches which they knew were not going to take place and this would have caused frustrations to fans and officials as well.”The weather is beyond any of our control and the WICB will now work with Sri Lanka Cricket to ensure that the matches are rescheduled to a time when the weather is more favourable for cricket.”There was no clarity over whether the ODI series would be postponed or not on the eve of the first ODI in Hambantota, where it had been raining incessantly. Reports had suggested that SLC and the West Indies board were working on rescheduling the series, but SLC denied this, while the West Indies team management would not officially comment on the development. Adding to the confusion was Chris Gayle’s Twitter update – the former West Indies captain tweeted as early as Wednesday afternoon that the series had been officially called off and that he was headed out of the country.Brian Thomas, SLC’s media manager, told ESPNcricinfo that the two boards were “looking at postponing the series yesterday [Wednesday].” He said the delay in the making the decision was because they decided to wait one more day to see if the weather would improve.Rain has been the only constant during this ill-timed tour, with the players spending most of the time during the drawn three-Test series in dressing rooms. The weather-induced stalemate pushed Sri Lanka from third to fifth in the ICC Test rankings, and Kumar Sangakkara, the Sri Lanka captain, went on to describe the series as the worst of his life.

Central Districts took just over 30 overs on the fourth day to beat Wellington by 243 runs at Nelson Park in Napier. But the margin of victory doesn’t tell the entire story. At one point Central Districts were in trouble at 66 for 6 in their second innings. It took a 187-run stand between wicketkeeper Kruger van Wyk and seamer Doug Bracewell to set Wellington a target of 405 in the fourth innings.Joshua Brodie and Cameron Merchant played confidently at the end of day three to set up an interesting last day with Wellington needing 344 more to win with nine wickets in hand. Central Districts’ opening bowlers Michael Mason and Ben Wheeler quickly made it a one-horse race, though. Wheeler dismissed Brodie and Neal Parlane off consecutive balls before Mason struck twice in two overs to reduce Wellington to 79 for 5. Wheeler and Mason both finished with three wickets apiece, as did left-arm fast bowler Mitchell McClenaghan, who wiped out Wellington’s tail.The win was set up by van Wyk and Bracewell in the third innings, after Central Districts had taken a 87-run lead in the first innings. Both fell in sight of well-deserved centuries. Andrew Lamb took both wickets to return with figures of 6 for 70 in the second innings.Wicketkeeper Joe Austin-Smellie took six catches in the first innings, while a steady 80 off 141 balls from Brad Patton helped Central District reach 293. Wheeler took 6 for 60 in Wellington’s first innings to give Central District the advantage, before Van Wyk and Bracewell set up the win.Otago and Northern Districts began the season with a draw as batting seemed to gradually become easier at the Queenstown Events Centre. Otago’s decision to bat ran into early trouble as seamer Graeme Aldridge prised out early wickets to leave them stuttering at 38 for 4 and later 84 for 5, before Sam Wells and Derek de Boorder began to resist. Wells struck 14 fours and a six in his 70 that came off 97 balls while de Boorder fell eight short of a maiden first-class ton after steering his side past 300. Aldridge finished with six wickets.Northern Districts’ reply featured several significant contributions, but none that was substantial enough for a huge lead. Six batsmen scored over 31, but the highest score was Joseph Yovich’s 61, after opener Brad Wilson made 60. Neil Wagner did the most damage, finishing with figures of 6 for 55 as Norther Districts finished 74 ahead. Otago’s second innings too began in shaky fashion and, at 33 for 4 early on the third morning, they were in a tight spot. The Broom brothers, Neil and Darren, however came together to steer them to safety. The pair added 252 runs for the fifth wicket before Darren fell for 112. Neil pressed on with the tail to reach a double-hundred that included 22 fours and a six before Otago declared, setting Northern Districts 365 to win in around half a day’s play. The visitors chose caution over valour, with openers Brad Wilson and Daniel Flynn scoring steady half-centuries, as the game petered into a draw.Canterbury and Auckland were involved in a game of fluctuating fortunes that eventually ended in a stalemate at Village Green in Christchurch. Canterbury chose to bat and began in determined fashion as Rob Nicol, supported by Michael Papps and Rob Nicol, laid the foundation for a big score. Nicol made 75 before No. 5 Dean Brownlie took charge of the innings with an assured 151 off 248 balls inclusive of 18 fours. Reece Young and Todd Astle chipped in with significant contributions to push the score to 435 for 9 when the hosts decided to declare.Auckland’s innings began in disastrous fashion, with Ryan McCone removing both openers for ducks. Things got progressively worse from there and, at 29 for 4, Canterbury would have nursed hopes of pushing for an innings win. Colin de Grandhomme began the resistance along with Anaru Kitchen, the pair adding 76 to weather the storm. Kyle Mills stepped up after de Grandhomme’s exit, contributing 69, while Kitchen reached his maiden first-class ton before Auckland were bowled out for 289, conceding a 146-run lead. Micahael Papps and Peter Fulton led Canterbury’s second innings with half-centuries, before offspinner Bhupinder Singh stalled them with four cheap wickets. The hosts declared at 187 for 7, setting Auckland a target of 334 with most of the final day’s play remaining. Auckland began with a draw in mind, but Bradley Cachopa and Andrew de Boorder scored fluent half-centuries that might have left Canterbury sweating. Mills joined in the fun again, scoring 45 off 52 balls, but it was not enough to force a result.

There will be no highlights of this winter’s Ashes on terrestrial TV according to a report in the Daily Mail.The newspaper claims no terrestrial broadcaster responded to the tender document offering free-to-air rights because of strict limitations on the time they would be allowed to air any highlights package. It was expected the tender, sent out by IMG earlier this year, would attract interest from the BBC or Channel 5.However, both broadcasters said scheduling restrictions put them off making any bid. The terms are believed to have stated no highlights could be shown before 10pm, a delay of almost a day, and they could not overlap with any of Sky’s live transmissions, which usually start at around 11.30pm, giving a very small window for them to be shown.

Scorecard
Zimbabwe took second place on the Intercontinental Cup table after earning nine points in a high-scoring draw based on a first-innings lead against Ireland. They are now ahead of Scotland, who refused to tour Zimbabwe for their scheduled Intercontinental Cup clash in October. Should the two teams not play each other, Zimbabwe, ahead on points, are likely to qualify for the final in Dubai in November against table-toppers Afghanistan. Zimbabwe Cricket ruled out the possibility of a neutral host for the Scotland fixture but the ICC is yet to take a call on the matter. Zimbabwe’s lead also meant Ireland were knocked out of the race for the final; they are now fourth.A draw looked seemingly inevitable at the end of the third day as Zimbabwe batsmen Sean Williams and Keith Dabengwa smashed centuries to help their team overhaul Ireland’s 465. The Zimbabwe lower order, led by Forster Mutizwa’s unbeaten 67, extended Zimbabwe’s total to 590 on the fourth day. Ireland seamers Kevin O’Brien and Trent Johnston shared eight wickets but, by then, their team was virtually out of contention.Ireland did bat 54 overs on the final day and erased their deficit with captain William Porterfield making an unbeaten 66, laced with 11 fours. But the game ended in disappointment for his side which finished with two wins, a loss and three draws in the competition.