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ScorecardNiall O’Brien’s half-century helped secure the draw•Getty Images

Northamptonshire delayed their declaration until after lunch against Leicestershire to allow Ben Duckett, their 18-year-old wicketkeeper, to make a fifty on first-class debut.Duckett making an unbeaten 53 off 65 balls to give Leicestershire an unlikely target of 337 but the contest fizzled out as Ireland wicketkeeper Niall O’Brien struck a half-century against his old club.Northants were denied a fourth successive victory as Leicestershire unsurprisingly opted to settle for the draw, which they comfortably achieved as the two captains shook hands with the score 168 for 3 – O’Brien making 59 off 118 balls.Northamptonshire began the day on 94 for 5, 215 runs ahead of their opponents, but the loss of three wickets late on the third day inhibited their approach and matters got worse as Rob Keogh and Andrew Hall fell cheaply.Keogh was only able to make 10 before he was superbly caught by Leicestershire captain Ramnaresh Sarwan at slip off the bowling of Robbie Williams.Another terrific catch then did for Hall when Greg Smith snared him while diving to his left in Williams’ next over to leave the hosts on 112 for 7.Duckett rallied matters as Northamptonshire reached lunch on 190 for 8 but, to the surprise of many, they did not declare despite their advantage being 311.Duckett went past 50 off 64 balls in the second over of the afternoon, which finally prompted the hosts to declare leaving Steven Crook on 34 not out as part of a partnership of 82.With 63 overs to survive, Leicestershire’s openers started confidently although Smith fell one run short of his second half-century of the match when he was taken at first slip by Hall off Crook.That broke an opening stand of 80 with O’Brien, but the setback did not seem to unnerve the visitors, who went in at tea on 100 for 1.Ned Eckersley was then run out by Willey from short third man after a bright 42off 39 deliveries after O’Brien sent him back from running a quick single off James Middlebrook.O’Brien hung around to complete a patient half-century off 114 balls but he perished when he edged Australia international Trent Copeland to Duckett.Only one more over, bowled by Willey, was possible before the players called it a day just after five o’clock.

ScorecardShiv Thakor’s 75 helped Leicestershire recover from 52 for 5•Getty Images

A stand of 125 between Shiv Thakor and Matt Boyce put Leicestershire in the ascendency on day one at Grace Road. The pair made half-centuries to stage a recovery from 52 for 5 before two late wickets as Gloucestershire came out to bat for nine overs made it Leicestershire’s day.Gloucestershire looked like taking control and Benny Howell claimed career-best figures of 5 for 57 as Leicestershire were dismissed for 250. But from where they were in the morning session, Gloucestershire will feel they let an opportunity slip.Thakor and Matt Boyce sparked comeback to claim two batting points. Thakor top scored with 75 and Boyce also made a half-century before veteran Claude Henderson thumped 33 off 30 balls.But it was 24-year-old allrounder Howell made the biggest impact of theday. Before this match Howell, in his second season with Gloucestershire, had taken only nine first-class wickets with a best return of 2 for 37 against Northamptonshire last season. He had bettered that by lunch, picking up 3 for 17 runs in a superb eight-over spell.The home side were already in difficulties when Howell came on as first change. Michael Thornely was bowled by Will Gidman with the second ball of the day and Niall O’Brien soon followed after edging behind off David Payne.Howell, finding some away swing with his medium pace bowling, then hadRamnaresh Sarwan caught at gully, trapped Ned Eckersley lbw offering no shot to a ball that straightened before bowling Josh Cobb off an inside edge.With half the side out in the space of 22 overs, Leicestershire were staring down the barrel. But for the second Championship game in succession, Thakor and Boyce dug in to bring some respectability to the batting. They stayed together for 44 overs, Thakor reaching his 50 off 110 balls with seven fours plus an all run five. Boyce went to his half-century off 120 balls with four boundaries.But both fell quickly after tea. Howell had Boyce caught at slip and Thakor was also caught low down by Hamish Marshall cutting at a ball from offspinner Jack Taylor.Howell then picked up his fifth wicket when Jigar Naik edged to slip butHenderson’s quick-fire 33 brought some valuable late runs.And the day ended well for Leicestershire, with Robbie Williams trapping Chris Dent lbw and Ollie Freckingham having Dan Housego caught behind asGloucestershire closed 219 runs behind.

Young Queensland seam bowler Cameron Gannon will undergo bio-mechanical testing of his action after being reported under Cricket Australia’s doubtful bowling action procedure.Umpires in the Sheffield Shield final against Tasmania twice mentioned Gannon as having a suspected illegal bowling action, reaching a total of four reports across the 2012-13 domestic season.Under CA’s regulations, any bowler reported three times in a single season must undergo testing. Gannon must now undergo testing within 21 days of being notified about the report.Queensland Cricket indicated that Gannon would be strongly supported by his state throughout the process. “He’s a fine young cricketer and we will provide whatever support and assistance that is necessary during this time,” a Bulls spokesman said.Gannon, 24, has played 13 first-class matches for the Bulls, reaping 42 wickets at 27.02. He has also turned out in 12 limited overs games, claiming 22 victims at 22.04. His action was closely observed throughout the Shield final as the annual competition decider is televised.

Sunrisers Hyderabad have made four additions to their support staff by naming Simon Helmot their assistant coach, Jade Roberts their trainer, Theo Kapakoulakis their physio and Sankapani their team manager.Helmot, 41, is the coach of Victoria Bushrangers in the Ryobi One-Day Cup, Australia’s domestic one-day competition, and of Melbourne Renegades in the Big Bash League. He began his coaching career at the age of 25 and also coached the Australia A side which toured India in 2008. Roberts, also from Australia, is Sri Lanka’s trainer since 2007 and has worked at the Queensland Academy of Sport.The appointments come a couple of weeks after former Pakistan fast bowler Waqar Younis was signed as the bowling consultant by Sunrisers who also have Tom Moody as their head coach, and Kris Srikkanth and VVS Laxman as their team mentors. Some of the star players in the franchise include Dale Steyn and Kumar Sangakkara.

Australia’s ruinous Test results in India have not dissuaded the architect of the plan to rejuvenate the national team from his view that the world No. 1 ranking can be attained by 2015. Don Argus, the former BHP chairman, authored the review released in August 2011 that overhauled the structure around Michael Clarke’s team, resulting in the appointments of Mickey Arthur as coach, John Inverarity as national selector and Pat Howard as the team performance manager.Those changes wrought promising early returns, but the retirements of Ricky Ponting and Michael Hussey left Clarke to lead a gapingly inexperienced side to India where the vagaries of playing on the subcontinent have contributed to a humiliating duo of defeats. Nonetheless, Argus told he was adamant that Australia were still capable of achieving for the sustained success striven for in his review, provided those in charge were not panicked into compromising on its dictums.’I wouldn’t compromise on that at all,” Argus said. “It’s like a five-year plan in a company – if you commit to something, you’ve got to get it, and all these players have committed to it. I don’t believe in blind faith. I believe in a lot of hard work, and it doesn’t come tomorrow. I think there’s a lot of effort going into getting this team to its goals. I’ve got great faith they will get to where they want to get to.”Stay the course, but also recognise the challenges that are there. We tend to fall back into thinking we’ve still got this side with seven champions in it. Maybe that will come again, but that just doesn’t come overnight.”Argus was largely supportive of the path taken by Howard, Arthur and Inverarity in following through on his directives, though he admitted it was “debatable” whether the area of spin bowling weakness was being adequately addressed. He stated that current impatience with the team’s results could not be allowed to change the path that had been committed to.”I think they have been quite bold in implementing a lot of the stuff and going down the recommendation path in the report,” Argus said. ”Everyone wants instant success … and the trouble when you go through a transition or succession phase is that impatience manifests itself into a bit of emotion. Up until this series, the guys have done pretty well in trying to unearth new talent and things like that.”Everyone is going to have to hold their steel here to get the ultimate outcome, because if you start thrashing around in water then you drown, and up until now I think they’ve held it pretty well. I think India is probably the toughest environment of all to blood new talent and that’s what is happening over there.”I’m not that despondent. I think it’s probably teaching the selectors a lot more about the strengths and weaknesses of the squad. I don’t think they could put together a better squad. They’ve tried a lot of people and you can add a few here and a few there, but they’ve gone about a process quite systematically that will get us there in the end, but it was never going to be a short-term fix.”Addressing questions about whether the selectors had adequately fulfilled his stated goal that performance had to be rewarded more consistently with national team representation, Argus said Inverarity’s panel had done so “by and large”, though Xavier Doherty’s Test recall after a barren home summer was a deviation.”Selectors will sometimes make subjective judgments for whatever reason … I’m sure they can justify their selections,” Argus said. “Up until probably that one [Doherty], they’ve stuck with what they’ve said they were going to do, and I think that has paid off for them.”They’ve won in the West Indies, they’ve comprehensively won two series at home [against India and Sri Lanka, but also lost to No.1 team South Africa], and they go to the toughest environment in the world with an inexperienced side in those conditions, and it’s tough.”Suspicious in the review of the impact that the then nascent Big Bash League may have on international performances and focus, Argus said compromises in the name of commercial gains would result in the team being compromised.”If you deviate from your priorities, if you compromise on your plan … you’ll always get caught out,” he said. “If Test cricket is the No. 1 game, and we say it is, that’s the way it is.”

Scorecard and ball-by-ball detailsPaul Stirling’s rapid fifty gave Sylhet Royals the start they needed•BCB

Paul Stirling and Mominul Haque helped Sylhet Royals to a competitive score of 175 for 7 before their bowlers put in a spirited effort to secure a 33-run win against Barisal Burners in their first game. It was an impressive start for the franchise that won just two games in the first edition of BPL.Put in to bat first, Sylhet began at a good pace but lost Hamilton Masakadza in the fourth over when left-arm spinner Nazmul Islam had him trapped lbw for 19. Thereafter, Stirling and Mominul added 51 quickly, using the pace of the ball on most occasions to find boundaries. Stirling cracked eight fours and a six in his 29-ball half-century, backing away whenever he sought a boundary, while Mominul showcased strength in hitting three fours and a six and supported the big-hitters at the other end well.But after the team had reached the hundred-run mark in the tenth over, the Sylhet batsmen lost their way. Kabir Ali and Alok Kapali took two wickets each, as Barisal restricted them to 175 but that total was still going to be a challenge for a team that has lost players like Kamran Akmal and Umar Gul in the mass Pakistani pull-out.Mohammad Nabi, the Afghanistan allrounder who was acquired by Sylhet after they lost two West Indies players (Andre Russell and Tino Best), took two early wickets with his flighty offspin before the rest of the slow bowlers took over. Sohag Gazi didn’t pick up a wicket but created enough pressure for the likes of Elton Chigumbura, Suhrawadi Shuvo and Bishawnath Halder to pick up cheap wickets. Ali was the only man to make some runs, hammering 50 off 21 balls with four huge sixes, before being stumped the off Shuvo. None of the other Barisal batsmen stayed at the crease long enough to have a serious go at the target.

Match facts

Ajantha Mendis will hope to have greater influence on the contest in Adelaide•Getty Images

January 13, Adelaide Oval
Start time 1350 (0320 GMT)

Big Picture

Unjustly labelled a B-team ahead of the series opener in Melbourne, George Bailey’s Australian side demonstrated plenty of hunger and no little skill in dispatching Sri Lanka by 107 runs at the MCG. The emphatic nature of the result, and the composure shown by the team in achieving it, reflected handsomely on the national selectors’ decision to refresh the squad following six Tests, allowing Phillip Hughes and Bailey in particular to enhance their reputations as limited overs batsmen.A calf injury to Mitchell Starc should mean further opportunity for the bowlers in the squad, as one of Ben Cutting or Kane Richardson will get the chance to charge in at the Sri Lankans in Adelaide. Ahead of the looming returns of the captain Michael Clarke, David Warner and Matthew Wade to the squad, Bailey’s team will be doubly keen to push on to another victory in game two, in order to give the selection panel further welcome headaches about their options. Not everyone excelled in Melbourne of course, with Aaron Finch and Usman Khawaja especially enthused about the chance to make significant scores before they return to the reserves bench.Sri Lanka’s display in game one reflected the difficulties experienced by the Test team on harder, bouncier surfaces than they are used to at home. Also perplexing was the lack of impact provided by Lasith Malinga and Ajantha Mendis. The likely loss of Dinesh Chandimal to a hamstring strain is a further source of consternation for the visitors, who must win or otherwise be only a game away from forfeiting the series.

Form guide

(Most recent first)
Australia WWLWW
Sri Lanka LWWWL

In the spotlight

Until he fashioned a direct hit run out from mid off as Sri Lanka’s chase stalled badly in Melbourne, Usman Khawaja had not enjoyed the best of ODI debuts. With the likes of David Warner and Michael Clarke expected to come back into the squad for the third match in Brisbane and Phillip Hughes already staking his claim for a more permanent place with a century in Melbourne, Khawaja will want to argue his own case more forcefully with a substantial score in Adelaide, the scene of some of his most fruitful innings for New South Wales before his move to Queensland.When Ajantha Mendis was called into the ODI side for Melbourne, leaving Rangana Herath to sit on the sidelines, figures of 1 for 62 from 10 overs were not the sorts of returns he was after. Though Mendis did not have much difficulty getting past Aaron Finch, he struggled for impact against the rest, as the Australians quickly found that the MCG pitch did not offer enough spin for the bowler’s variations to be truly dangerous. Adelaide may be a somewhat different case however, as the surface generally offers a little more lateral deviation for slow bowlers.

Team news

Ben Cutting for the injured Mitchell Starc is the most likely change to Australia’s line-up, though the call-up of Kane Richardson as cover fro Starc will tempt the selectors to play the 21-year-old South Australian on his home ground.Australia (possible) 1 Phillip Hughes, 2 Aaron Finch, 3 Usman Khawaja, 4 George Bailey (capt), 5 David Hussey, 6 Glenn Maxwell, 7 Brad Haddin (wk), 8 Mitchell Johnson, 9 Ben Cutting, 10 Clint McKay, 11 Xavier Doherty.Dinesh Chandimal’s strained hamstring is Sri Lanka’s major concern, with the uncapped Kushal Perera poised to come into the team for him in Adelaide. Rangana Herath may also be in line for a call-up.Sri Lanka (possible) 1 Tillakaratne Dilshan, 2 Upul Tharanga, 3 Mahela Jayawardene (capt), 4 Lahiru Thirimanne, 5 Angelo Mathews, 6 Kushal Perera (wk), 7 Jeevan Mendis, 8 Thisara Perera, 9 Nuwan Kulasekara, 10 Lasith Malinga, 11 Ajantha Mendis.

Pitch and conditions

Adelaide’s forecast is for a mild and overcast day, while the pitch can be expected to be dry, even and potentially offering a little more turn to the spin bowlers as the game goes on.

Stats and trivia

• Australia have won seven of nine encounters with Sri Lanka in Adelaide, though the visitors have been victorious in two of the past three matches
• Kushal Perera will be the fourth Sri Lankan to don the wicketkeeping gloves on this tour should he debut in Adelaide
• Mahela Jayawardene needs 29 runs to go past Adam Gilchrist and move into third on the list of alltime ODI run scorers in matches between Australia and Sri Lanka

Quotes

“The confidence is quite high. I’ve never played an international game at Adelaide Oval, so it’s something I’m really looking forward to. I really can’t wait to get there on Sunday and hopefully score another big one and set up hopefully another win.”

Scorecard and ball-by-ball detailsRichard Levi’s career-best List A score powered Cape Cobras to a 111-run win against Titans in their last league match in Paarl. Levi brought up his first century this season off 68 balls after four fifties in the last five matches. He went on to score 166 with six sixes and 12 boundaries to set up Cobras strong total of 316. In a match that ended up being the preview of the semi-final between the two teams, Levi shared a 158-run first-wicket stand with Andrew Puttick and followed it up with another hundred stand with Stiaan van Zyl. Although Titans hit back with wickets towards the end of the innings, the damage had already been done upfront.In response, Titans were struck an early blow when opener Henry Davids drove a slower ball off Johann Louw straight to short midwicket and the other opener Heino Kuhn was out soon after. There was brief resistance when Mangaliso Mosehle and Martin van Jaarsveld strung together a 71-run stand for the fourth wicket, but once the partnership was broken, the Cobras bowlers mopped up the remaining wickets comfortably to secure a massive win.
Scorecard and ball-by-ball detailsBottom-placed Warriors finished their Momentum One Day Cup campaign with a win over Dolphins in East London – their second win of the tournament. Choosing to bat, Warriors were in early trouble as Lonwabo Tsotsobe removed the openers within the first seven overs. Warriors’ No. 3 Christiaan Jonker held one end with a solid 84 off 110 balls but didn’t receive much support from the other end. Kyle Abbott picked up four wickets as Warriors were bowled out in the 47th over.Andrew Birch boosted the defence of a middling target with a double-strike in the sixth over and added another wicket in the 12th over to reduce Dolphins to 46 for 3. However, Vaughn van Jaarsveld, who scored 71, and Cody Chetty put up a 94-run stand to put the chase back on track. Chetty scored 39 and was out to Birch when 71 were required of 19 overs giving Warriors an opening. Right-arm seamer Ayabulela Gqamane struck in his third over to remove David Miller and ran through the bottom-half of the team to pick up his maiden five-for to wrap up Dolphins’ innings in the 43rd over.
ScorecardRain forced the contest between Lions and Knights in Kimberley to be abandoned without a ball being bowled. Both teams received two points each, and with it, Lions finished the group stages of the tournament at the top of the table and secured their place in the final.Knights’ chances of grabbing a play-off spot were eliminated, as they finished fourth on the table. The teams that finished second and third in the group stages – Cape Cobras and Titans – will face-off for the remaining place in the final.

Usman Khawaja will be an Australian Test aspirant one day and a Twenty20 billboard the next after a hurried compromise between Cricket Australia and the Sydney Thunder following Michael Clarke’s forced withdrawal from the opening round of the BBL.Named as captain of the CA Chairman’s XI to face the Sri Lankans in Canberra from Thursday, Khawaja will be withdrawn from the match on the Saturday morning and fly up to Sydney in time to take part in the Thunder’s opening match against the Sydney Sixers at the SCG.After Australia’s team physio Alex Kountouris strongly recommended that Clarke be ruled out of the opening round of the BBL – his one scheduled appearance for the Thunder before the start of the Test series against Sri Lanka – the BBL side immediately requested that Khawaja be withdrawn from the tour match at Manuka.A hasty round of negotiations followed between CA, the Thunder and Cricket NSW, resulting in a compromise whereby Khawaja will play for two days with the Chairman’s XI before also playing for the Thunder as their biggest local name in the absence of Clarke.Discussion of how Khawaja’s batting services would be spread across the weekend took place against the backdrop of selection talk about the make-up of the Australian Test side for the first match of the series against Sri Lanka in Hobart. The squad is due to be named on Thursday.Khawaja is part of a four-way battle to replace Ricky Ponting in Australia’s batting order, also including Phillip Hughes, Alex Doolan and Rob Quiney. Doolan is also taking part in the Chairman’s XI match, while Quiney and Hughes will be playing this weekend for the Melbourne Stars and the Adelaide Strikers, respectively.With 570 runs at 81.42 this summer including an unbeaten 161 for Australia A against the South Africans in Sydney, Doolan is second only to Clarke among Australia first-class run scorers this summer. Hughes is third with 524 runs at 47.63, while Khawaja’s 438 runs at 39.81 places him fifth. Doolan said Hughes and Quiney were both ahead of him in his own mind.”If I was picking the team I’d probably put Phil Hughes in there just simply through weight of runs,” Doolan told in Canberra. “It seems every time he steps onto the crease he’s hitting runs and hitting them at good pace and in a consistent way.”I’m not saying that I’d be happy to have someone picked ahead of me but I think Bobby [Quiney] deserves it as much as anyone. I really hope he gets another crack at it. He deserved his call-up to the national team and obviously results didn’t go his way but that just shows what the game is.”It’s a fickle game and sometimes results don’t go your way but I’ve no doubt he’s Test quality and I’m sure he’d show it if he got another go.”Injuries to Josh Hazlewood and John Hastings have reduced the selectors’ bowling options for the Hobart Test, leaving Peter Siddle and Ben Hilfenhaus to slot back into the squad alongside Mitchell Starc, Mitchell Johnson and Nathan Lyon.Possible Test squad: Michael Clarke (capt), Ed Cowan, David Warner, Phillip Hughes, Shane Watson, Michael Hussey, Matthew Wade, Peter Siddle, Mitchell Johnson, Mitchell Starc, Ben Hilfenhaus, Nathan Lyon.

Former Sri Lanka cricketer and administrator Abu Fuard died in Colombo on July 28 at the age of 75. He was suffering from a kidney disease for the past few years. Fuard represented Ceylon in first-class cricket between 1956 and 1970. He later served Sri Lanka cricket as an administrator and was the manager and coach when Sri Lanka won their first Test match against India in 1985.An offspinner, who also opened the batting, Fuard took 51 first-class wickets from 19 matches and score 406 runs. But his major contribution to Sri Lankan cricket came as an administrator, manager, curator, coach and as a national selector. Fuard was manager and coach for Sri Lanka during the 1975 World Cup and assistant manager when Sri Lanka recorded their first win over a Test playing nation during 1979 World Cup.