‘Reece Oxford’ was towards the top of Twitter’s trending lists prior to West Ham’s opening game of the Premier League campaign at Arsenal, and for good reason.The 16-year old was drafted in by new Hammers gaffer Slaven Bilic to feature in the midfield along sideÂMark Noble and Cheik Kouyate in what is a massive leap of faith from the Croat – particularly given the array of talented opposition he’ll have to face at the Emirates Stadium.

Follow all the action on our LIVE Arsenal vs West Ham blog

The debut caps a remarkable few months for the Academy product after starring in preseason and being handed his full senior debut in the Europa League qualifier versus FC Lusitans.

Here’s what the internet made of it all…

Zimbabwe made their victory charge just a little too late, losing by 13 runs to India, their second successive defeat in the Champions Trophy in Sharjah. On an evening when there was much less dew in the outfield, the Indian attack spearheaded by Zaheer Khan were able to hold off Zimbabwe, but not without a measure of discomfort. A gallant 118 run third wicket stand between Andy Flower and Stuart Carlisle laid a sound platform for the final surge. Flower was the more adventurous of the two, always ready to take a risk or two in order to disrupt the rhythm of the bowlers.He fell for 63 (68 balls), sweeping at Tendulkar but failing to clear Joshi at midwicket. Carlisle had been an able lieutenant, opening out after a slow start to play some rasping pulls through the midwicket region. When Joshi bowled him for 60 (99 balls) as he made room to cut, it left Zimbabwe at 165/4 in the 37th over. The loss of both these protagonists in quick succession as they sought to raise the ante did not quite leave Zimbabwe out of the picture.Grant Flower and Guy Whittall then added 49 at a run a ball and entering the final six overs, Zimbabwe were actually ahead of India at the corresponding stage. But they were unable to match the Indian tailenders in making optimum use of the final few overs. Flower was caught at the edge of the circle by an Agarkar slower ball and then although Heath Streak struck the same bowler for a massive straight six in the penultimate over, the target was just out of their reach as they settled at 252/6.Zaheer Khan was declared man of the match for his brilliant spell of 3/37. His fifth ball had seen Alistair Campbell, back after a onematch suspension, offer a stinging catch to the left of Rahul Dravid at second slip which was put down. Zaheer was not to be denied as Doug Marillier found out in the fifth over, having his offstump knocked back to leave Zimbabwe at 21/1. Prasad had a good leg before shout against Campbell turned down by Daryl Harper but the in-form opener failed to make the most of his chances. Zaheer got one to cut back sharply and cannon into off stump as the batsman tried to steer it square of the wicket.Earlier the Indian tail wagged with abandon to provide a breezy climax to an innings built around a rocksolid 85 by Rahul Dravid, promoted to open the batting. None of Dravid’s colleagues at the top of the order were able to show similar application, throwing their wickets away after getting set. Yuvraj Singh played a delightful cameo of 34 which gave some momentum in the middle overs but it was really the efforts of Vijay Dahiya and his cohorts at the fag end which bolstered India to a once unthinkable 265. Ironically it was Dravid’s fall that provided the impetus as the 5.4 overs post Dravid produced a mammoth 59 runs.Inserted to bat, India began quietly with Dravid and Tendulkar playing out a maiden apiece. Having survived a dropped chance by Guy Whittall at short midwicket, Tendulkar was enticed into a full blooded drive off a lovely outswinger that was pitched up from Streak, the faint edge being snapped up by Andy Flower.Vinod Kambli, he of the wretched luck, arrived at No.3 and promptly took charge of the situation. The Zimbabwe bowlers erred in line, pitching on Kambli’s legs, and the lefthander, fluently but chancily, kept whipping the ball off his legs through midwicket and squareleg. Travis Friend replaced Streak and Kambli pulled him to the midwicket fence to bring up the fifty.Friend surprised Kambli with a lifter that struck him on the forearm and the physio came on for some treatment. After the break, another short delivery was fired in at shoulder length, and Kambli pulled it to the man at square leg on the edge of the circle. The batsman looked beseechingly at both umpires for any sign of a no-ball call. No response was forthcoming and Kambli departed for 18.Ganguly had suggested in his pre-match comments that he was shunting himself down the order to handle Zimbabwe’s two spinners. Well, Friend scotched any such pretensions by getting rid of the Indian captain in the 23rd over. Friend had been unafraid to bounce Ganguly, even if it meant giving away a stray no-ball or two. Following one such delivery which ruffled Ganguly just a bit, he slipped in an innocuous ball down leg which the batsman glanced loosely to Andy Flower who gathered the catch well.Left arm spinner Dirk Viljoen was brought on by Streak and he immediately copped some punishment from Dravid who, with no sweeper stationed, rocked on the backfoot to get him away to the cover boundary. That brought up the hundred in the 24th over and Dravid posted his half century in the same over off 74 balls. Yuvraj took a little while to adjust himself to the pace off the wicket but it was a treat when he finally cut loose. He picked out Grant Flower for some choice treatment, lofting him into the first tier of stands over long on and then flatbatting the bowler in his second over for another six over midwicket.But it was that man Friend who struck again. Coming back for his second spell, he hustled one round Yuvraj’s legs that just nicked the leg bail on its way through to Flower. A blissfully ignorant Daryl Harper had actually signalled wide before his eyes homed in on the fallen bail and Yuvraj was on his way for a swift 34 off 39 balls.The fifth bowler’s duties had been apportioned between the three slow bowlers – Viljoen, Flower and Campbell – who went for 65 in their ten overs. Robin Singh was unfortunately run out and Dravid who was nearing the end of his tether now holed out to Grant Flower on the square leg boundary for 85 (121 balls).Sunil Joshi, who’d stepped in for the injured Anil Kumble, (19 off 13) belted a nice juicy full toss from Friend over the bowler’s head for six before his stumps were rearranged by Streak. Dahiya mauled Friend’s figures further in the penultimate over of the innings, slicing a full toss to deep backward point for four and following it up by lifting a half volley for a straight six. He fell for 32 in 23 balls, but Ajit Agarkar provided the icing by blasting Streak into the first tier of the stands over long on in the last over. Friend who was taken for plenty in his last spell finished with the best figures of 4/55.

Martin van Jaarsveld helped stabilise a shaky start to the Northerns Titans’ first innings, playing his part in two partnerships on a rain-affected first day of thei Supersport Series match against the Griqua Diamonds at SuperSport Park on Friday.The Titans were on 160 for three wickets when bad light ended play an hour earlier than the scheduled close.The start of play was delayed by an hour and 40 minutes following the morning’s downpour, after which Griquas captain Martyn Gidley sent Northerns in to bat first.Northerns were in trouble early on, losing their first wicket for only seven in the fourth over.Opener Rudi Steyn was the man to go when dismissed for two runs after being caught at silly mid-on by Jason Brooker off the bowling of Zahir Abrahim.The home team were on a miserly 57 when Jacques Rudolph was dismissed for 33, caught in the slips by Grant Elliott off Johann Louw.It was left up to Van Jaarsveld to add some respectability to the innings.His 50-run partnership with Rudolph for the second-wicket was followed by a 101-run stand with Neil McKenzie for the third wicket.The Klerksdorp-born Van Jaarsveld guided Northerns to 109 for two at tea, and claimed his half-century shortly after the break.But the revival ended when Van Jaarsveld was caught at first slip by Mickey Arthur for a 70 in 108 minutes which included 10 fours.McKenzie was not out on 39 and Gerald Dros (2) was his partner when the black rain clouds drifted over the oval and forced a prematureclose with 48 overs not bowled.

Whoever pulls the cricket strings from above has set severe challenges for West Indies on their always tough tour of South Africa.West Indies have met them with a welcome tenacity, if not all successfully, and, after the humiliations on their two previous visits, they have salvaged much of the respect their great players and teams earned from afar in the days when apartheid kept them apart.In spite of their defeat in the second Test in Newlands on Saturday, South Africa’s captain Graeme Smith called it “a hard-fought Test match”, adding that Chris Gayle and his team had “shown a lot of character and played some really good cricket”.Two days earlier, South Africa coach Mickey Arthur was praising the discipline and patience of the bowling and stating that his men could learn from it.It was hardly all bluff, but with the series level 1-1 – a situation completely unexpected before it started – they can expect even more daunting difficulties for the final Test in Durban, starting Thursday.South Africa’s confident, calculated pursuit of 185 runs at over five runs an over for the loss of only three wickets has shifted the psychological advantage to the home team and confirmed their resolve to restore the natural order that has them as No. 2 in the ICC rankings to the West Indies’ No. 8.That has now been seriously compounded by injuries that will almost certainly eliminate captain Chris Gayle and fast bowler Fidel Edwards, two key players, from the match.With Devon Smith and Brenton Parchment, both openers, as the only available batting options, Gayle revealed the seriousness of the situation on Saturday when he called for Ramnaresh Sarwan to “put on his boots and come over here as soon possible”.Smith has eked out 41 runs in his eight innings in Zimbabwe and South Africa. Parchment, the only newcomer in the squad, has batted four times in the tour, scoring 55 runs.A typical itinerary of the present age, with three back-to-back Tests, has offered them no meaningful match preparation. Smith last played on December 22, Parchment on December 16. The prospect of replacing Gayle substantially weakens an already shaky batting side, so heavily dependent on Shivnarine Chanderpaul, whom the South Africans have dismissed only twice in four innings that have yielded 247 runs, occupied 17 and a quarter hours and the equivalent of 109 overs.The team media manager Philip Spooner could provide no further update on the Sarwan situation yesterday except to say that the management was “meeting on it”.The decision to withdraw Sarwan from Guyana’s current Carib Beer Series match against Trinidad and Tobago and get him plane tickets to South Africa rests with the West Indies Cricket Board and the selectors.In other words, he is unlikely to get to Durban in time. Edwards’ 90 mph speed and improved control made him the bowler most likely to strike at any time, especially with the new ball as he did at the start of South Africa’s innings in the first Test.His absence for all but 4.5 overs was one of the contributory factors to the second Test defeat. His fitness has always been a problem. This is the fifth time he was unable to complete a Test through one injury or another, and although his brother Pedro Collins offers the experience of 104 Test wickets and the variety of left-arm swing, he doesn’t present the menace of genuine pace.Spooner said Edwards’ hamstring strain was classified as Grade 2, not as serious as Gayle’s Grade 1. As such, he would receive daily treatment and assessment before a decision was taken on his readiness on Thursday morning. But it can be assumed that he won’t be. As much as Gayle had to, as captain and established opener, he gambled going into the first Test before his serious hamstring strain had fully healed. It lasted only as long as the first day of the second Test.Obliged to go in at No. 6 in the second innings, with the assistance of a runner, Gayle then had his left thumb fractured in the first over on by Andre Nel’s nasty leaping delivery. His return at the end of the innings to lash three mighty sixes and four fours confirmed his courage, but could not conceal his atrocious luck.As much as he would like to play, opening batsmen don’t subject fractured bones to opposing fast bowlers, especially in a decisive Test match.

Paul Farbrace, England’s assistant coach, has followed Alastair Cook in praising Peter Moores for laying the groundwork for the team’s recent success. Cook paid tribute to former head coach Moores after England’s innings victory at Trent Bridge saw them regain the Ashes and Farbrace echoed the sentiment, saying he would “defend him to the hilt”.Moores was sacked in May after the appointment of Andrew Strauss as England’s director of cricket. While England experienced a tumultuous year during Moores’ second spell as coach, he showed faith in a number of young players who have steadily helped improve the team’s fortunes.His final series in charge was a 1-1 draw in Tests against West Indies but the group stage exit at the World Cup cast an even longer shadow. Moores and Farbrace, who was brought in as assistant at the same time, had six months of 50-over preparation but saw the team fail even to reach the knockout stage after defeat to Bangladesh in Adelaide.England have made impressive strides in ODI cricket since then, while continuing the Test revival that Moores laid the foundations for after the 5-0 Ashes whitewash in 2013-14. Farbrace said Moores “gave absolutely everything to England” and backed him to do well with Nottinghamshire, where he has been working in a consultant capacity.”Following Mooresy down the tunnel at Adelaide was horrible. I did not enjoy seeing him take the stick that he did, and I will defend him to the hilt,” Farbrace said. “That bloke gave absolutely everything to England. I am so pleased that Cooky mentioned him because he did nothing but work hard for the team. He will still be in touch with the majority of the boys.”It is no surprise that he has come to Notts and in the time that he has been there he has improved them massively.”From my point of view, I hated the winter, I hate losing, but I have really, really enjoyed the last few months. But the team will go on long after I am finished with the England team, and be a very exciting team in the future.”England’s defeat to Bangladesh in Adelaide ended their World Cup at the group stage•Getty Images

Farbrace described England’s World Cup as a “disaster” but said it had helped provide the motivation to improve. Farbrace led the team in a thrilling 3-2 ODI victory over New Zealand, before the arrival of Trevor Bayliss as coach, and the feelgood factor established during that series fed into England’s dramatic Ashes surge.”We were all low. I said at the time in Sydney, it wasn’t Peter Moores’ fault we failed in the World Cup. He did nothing but work his socks off for England cricket. He is an excellent coach and bloke and was a very popular member of our group.”The decision was taken to change the coach after that World Cup. It was a disaster, there is no getting away from it. We didn’t play well. We got blown away in the first game and I don’t think we ever recovered. We were all hurting. Your pride takes a hell of a hit. You bump into people on the street and they say ‘Oh, you work with the England team, you are rubbish’. It hurts, it really does hurt.”The last week in Australia was a horrible week for all of us. Players get stung by that criticism. But we came back and the lads just felt it was time to change the way we were playing and our approach to certain things and they have carried that out. And we have seen the improvement.”England’s attacking approach, which saw them win the third and fourth Tests against Australia inside three days, was formed in part during the visit of New Zealand, with Farbrace filling an interim role in charge of the side. He pinpointed a counterattacking stand between Joe Root and Ben Stokes on the first day of the first Test of the summer – a game England ended up winning by 124 runs – as the catalyst for what followed.”Against New Zealand I don’t think we set out to be an ultra-attacking team,” he said. “It just happened by chance, at 30 for 4 on that first day at Lord’s, that Root plays one way, get his singles and scores boundaries, and Stokes came in and whacked it. And all of a sudden the headlines were ‘this new England way of playing’. But I think we stumbled across it as opposed to set out to play in that way.”I think it suits us. You look at the way the middle order play and they are all quite attacking batsmen. Trev keeps telling them to have a positive mindset, because then you are in the best position to play whatever ball is delivered to you – in the best position to leave, defend or hit it.”England’s sense of team unity played a big part in their Ashes victory•PA Photos

Farbrace also praised the ethic that has been instilled within the side, of enjoying success as a group. He offered Jason Roy – who continued to attack while opening in the ODIs against New Zealand despite the lack of a significant score – and Moeen Ali adapting to bat at No. 8 in the Test side as examples of the team’s needs taking priority, before highlighting Stokes’ pivotal display with the ball at Trent Bridge, where his second-innings 6 for 36 sealed the victory that returned the Ashes.”An interesting relationship has developed between Cooky and Ben Stokes,” he said. “Over the last 18 months or so, Stokes has wanted to bowl more and maybe Cooky hasn’t always trusted him to bowl so he has had short spells. Stokes knows he has short spells so he has been trying to impress with inswingers, bouncers, yorkers, whatever.”What we are now seeing, is that Stokes has had a couple of good spells and has been thrown the ball a bit more. So he is getting confidence from Cooky, Cooky is getting confidence in Stokesy, and now he is bowling spells like he did on Friday – a long spell which was needed for the team.”So the next time we are in that situation, Cooky will have no qualms about chucking Ben the ball knowing that he can do it, and Ben won’t feel like he has to prove himself every time he bowls. When players are not trying to prove something to the captain or coaches and just playing the way the team needs them to play, that is a great place for a team to be.”

ScorecardChris Dent scored Gloucestershire’s first Championship century at Bristol•Getty Images

Chris Dent compiled an assured 102 not out on the second day of the match against Glamorgan as Gloucestershire’s batsmen finally produced the goods in a Championship match at the Bristol County Ground.Glamorgan posted 433 in their first innings, teenager Aneurin Donald top-scoring with a career-best 98. But Gloucestershire fought back and reached the close on 243 for three, courtesy of a third wicket stand of 137 between Dent and Hamish Marshall.They still trail by 190 runs, but are handily-placed to avoid a fifth defeat in six red ball matches at Nevil Road, where first-innings runs have been in short supply this summer.For once, Gloucestershire made a decent fist of batting in the face of scoreboard pressure, Dent finishing the campaign the same way he began it in the opening game at Northants, by scoring a hundred.Marshall weighed in with an enterprising 58 and Benny Howell contributed an unbeaten 40 as the home side made the most of an easy-paced pitch.If the first day belonged to Glamorgan batsman Donald, this was definitely Dent’s day, the left-hander registering his third century of the summer to extricate his team from a potentially hazardous situation. In the process, he became the first Gloucestershire batsman to register three figures in a Championship match at Bristol this year.When Will Tavare and Gareth Roderick fell for single-figure scores to Craig Meschede and Michael Hogan respectively, the home side were 32 for 2 and under pressure on a pitch still offering a modicum of assistance to the seam bowlers.Dent and Marshall summoned admirable resistance in a third-wicket partnership of 137 in 31 overs as Gloucestershire fought back.Marshall required six balls fewer than his partner to reach 50, but the New Zealander was unable to convert his half century into a really imposing total, fending a rising delivery from Hogan to wicketkeeper Chris Cooke.Dent raised his 50 from 89 deliveries before pressing down hard on the accelerator. He faced a further 65 balls to realise three figures, bringing up that landmark by clipping Meschede behind square leg for four before bad light forced a premature conclusion with 17 overs unused.Fuller had earlier underlined his value to Gloucestershire, returning figures of 4-59 to lead a spirited fight-back during the morning session. Resuming on 338 for 4, Glamorgan lost their last six wickets for 95 runs.There was frustration and disappointment for 18-year-old Donald, who fell two runs short of eclipsing Matthew Maynard and becoming Glamorgan’s youngest-ever century-maker in the Championship.The Gorseinon-born batsman had scored a career-best 98 when he chased a wide delivery outside off-stump from Fuller and offered a catch to Dent at second slip. Howell then mopped up the tail, accounting for Meschede, Andrew Salter and Hogan in quick succession to finish with 3 for 28 from 8.3 overs.

England wicketkeeper Jos Buttler has been rested for the remainder of the one-day series against Australia and will be replaced by Jonny Bairstow for the final three matches.Although Buttler’s glovework has continued to improve his batting has faded in the second part of the season against Australia. He made just 122 runs at 15.25 in the Ashes and fell for a third-ball duck at Lord’s on Saturday, lbw to Glenn Maxwell. That followed a score of 4 at the Ageas Bowl when he drove loosely to mid-off.Being England’s wicketkeeper across all three formats since the middle of last year, when he was promoted to the Test side following Matt Prior’s ultimately career-ending injury against India, has meant Buttler has had an extensive workload.He missed the last one-day international against New Zealand and the T20 earlier this season, having sustained a finger injury, but has played 43 internationals since making his Test debut against India, at the Ageas Bowl, last July. Only Joe Root, with 44 appearances, has played more for England during that period and he has been granted a rest since the end of the Ashes.Between the end of the Ashes and the start of the limited-overs leg against Australia Buttler appeared in the NatWest Blast finals day for Lancashire having also played the quarter-final between the fourth and fifth Tests. Barely 12 hours after picking up the trophy at Edgbaston, as Lancashire overcame Northamptonshire in the final, he was at a training session in Cardiff ahead of the T20 international.Trevor Bayliss, the England coach, said: “While we initially felt Jos would have enough left in the tank for this ODI series, it has become clear in the last couple of days that he will benefit from a break from cricket ahead of the winter tours. We know that for players involved in all formats finding periods throughout the year when they can rest is key and Jos has had a heavy workload throughout 2015.”Resting  players provide opportunities for others in the international arena and Jonny Bairstow now has a chance to build on the one day form he showed at the end of the New Zealand series earlier this summer.”Bairstow was unlucky to be omitted from the original one-day squad having made a matchwinning, unbeaten 83 against New Zealand, at Chester-le-Street, in June on his recall. He was then also recalled to the Test team during the Ashes at the expense of Yorkshire team-mate Gary Ballance although did not completely convince at No.5.England already had Sam Billings, the Kent wicketkeeper-batsman, in the squad but do not yet view him as an option for the gloves and have left him out of the first two matches against Australia after he played the series against New Zealand and the T20 against Australia as a batsman.While Bairstow’s call-up to replace Buttler means at least one change to the England side for the third match at Old Trafford on Tuesday they will have to consider further alternative options as they try to keep the series alive having gone 2-0 down at Lord’s.David Willey and Reece Topley, the left-armers, will come into the equation to provide the bowling attack with some variety.

Mumbai

Shreyas Iyer scored 809 runs in 10 matches in the 2014-15 Ranji Trophy at an average of 50.56•PTI

Where they finished last season
Lost to eventual champions Karnataka in the semi-final.Big Picture
Champions. Quarter-finalists. Semi-finalists. Any other team on the domestic circuit would be delighted with such consistency in the last three editions of the Ranji Trophy. Not Mumbai.Having won almost half [40] of the tournament’s 81 editions so far, anything but the title is treated as a failure in Mumbai cricket. As a result, to end a two-season drought, Mumbai have turned to coach Chandrakant Pandit.More than working on the skill sets of Mumbai players, Pandit’s main task is to get them to play as a unit. More than their loss to Jammu & Kashmir or the miraculous qualification for the knockouts or the first-innings collapse in the semi-final, the major talking point of Mumbai’s last season was the infighting within the team. It resulted in Suryakumar Yadav being replaced as captain midway through the season and being reprimanded along with a key pace bowler.The other major challenge to overcome for Mumbai is the lack of a stalwart in dressing room. Abhishek Nayar will be the senior-most player in the change room, which is used to seeing international regulars or domestic stalwarts leading the way.Players to watch
Shreyas Iyer‘s first-class season got off to a fascinating start. For a rookie playing his maiden season, to finish as the seventh-highest run-getter of the tournament was an outstanding feat, and it was followed by an enviable price in the IPL auction. He also featured for India A during their home series against South Africa A but it remains to be seen if Iyer can avoid the second-season blues.Captaincy, albeit of an IPL team, made Rohit Sharma a responsible cricketer, but Suryakumar Yadav appeared to have become complacent on and off the field with the additional responsibility. The talented batsman started the last season as the Mumbai captain and almost lost his place for the zonal Twenty20 tournament on disciplinary grounds. Will he be able to turn the tide?Coaching staff
Chandrakant Pandit has been reappointed coach of Mumbai’s Ranji team after 11 years. Omkar Salvi, elder brother of former India pace bowler Aavishkar Salvi, continues to be the bowling coach, while Ashutosh Nimse will be the physiotherapist.Preparation
A mix of regular and fringe players helped Mumbai win the Buchi Babu tournament, one of the most respected pre-season tournaments. It was followed by a fortnight-long training stint in Hyderabad, where Mumbai played two warm-up games.Team news
Wasim Jaffer has switched to Vidarbha while Sarfaraz Khan has moved to Uttar Pradesh, and Hiken Shah remains suspended by the BCCI. International commitments are likely to keep Rohit Sharma and Ajinkya Rahane away from the Mumbai dressing room for the second season in succession. This would mean that the likes of Iyer, Yadav, Siddhesh Lad and Nikhil Patil will have their task cut out. The bowling attack will be bolstered with Dhawal Kulkarni’s availability, at least for the first two games. Zaheer Khan, who missed last season due to an injury, has been left out of the squad for the first two games.Squad
Aditya Tare (capt & wk), Badre Alam, Vishal Dabholkar, Harmeet Singh, Akhil Herwadkar, Shreyas Iyer, Dhawal Kulkarni, Siddhesh Lad, Shrideep Mangela, Abhishek Nayar, Nikhil Patil, Abhishek Raut, Balwinder Sandhu, Shardul Thakur, Suryakumar Yadav.In their own words
“The expectations, like every year, are to win the title. We are not thinking about it at all. Our simple mantra is to work on the process rather than the result. I have been telling the boys not to take the pressure of winning the Ranji Trophy. If we do the right things in the middle, results will naturally follow.”

Maharashtra

Maharashtra will be looking at Kedar Jadhav to do the bulk of the run-scoring•ESPNcricinfo Ltd

Where they finished last season
Semi-finalists, bowing out against Tamil Nadu on the basis of first-innings leadBig Picture
For a better part of the last decade, Maharashtra had employed the policy of trying and testing youngsters. After trying out far too many, and dumping most of them, from 2005-06 to 2010-11, Maharashtra has emerged as one of the most settled units in the Ranji Trophy. And it has borne results of late, with Maharashtra making it to the final and semi-finals in the last two seasons.If they are to maintain the consistency, their pace quartet will have to work their magic again. Over the last couple of seasons, the BCCI’s policy of preparing seamer-friendly surfaces had worked in their favour, as Samad Fallah, Domnic Joseph and Anupam Sanklecha made the most of conditions, with Shrikant Mundhe playing the back-up seamer’s role to perfection.If the BCCI’s diktat of letting spinners back in the game is followed to the tee, then Maharashtra will have to hope Akshay Darekar can be complemented by either Nikit Dhumal or Chirag Khurana.Players to watch
Allrounders are a rare breed in domestic cricket, but Maharashtra are fortunate to have two. Shrikant Mundhe has emerged as a consistent pace-bowling allrounder who is tailor-made to bat with the tail. Chirag Khurana had a breakthrough season with the bat last year, tallying close to 700 runs to lead his team’s run charts. His offspin bowling also proved to be more than a handful, with him being preferred as the lone spinner in the team.For the first time in four decades, a Maharashtra team will feature an international centurion, thanks to Kedar Jadhav’s hundred in Zimbabwe, and Jadhav will have plenty to prove after a lean 2014-15 against the red ball. If Jadhav can repeat the heroics of 2013-14, where he garnered 1200-plus runs, then Maharashtra’s batting woes will be all but sorted.Coaching staff
Maharashtra have stuck to last year’s coaching staff. Australian David Andrews continues to be the coach with Abhishek Joshi doubling up as physio and trainer.Preparation
After competing in a pre-season tournament in Nagpur in August, rain proved to be a dampener for Maharashtra in a preparatory tournament. Only one round of the eight-team tournament, including three teams of state players, could be played before the weather turned nasty. The selectors then made up for the lost time by hosting a four-day match between Under-23 and Ranji teams.Team news
Vijay Zol is back in the reckoning after missing most of the last season due to a shoulder injury. He will have to fight for his place though with the likes of Nikhil Naik and Jay Pande having impressed with a strong showing in the pre-season outings.SquadRohit Motwani (capt), Harshad Khadiwale, Swapnil Gugale, Kedar Jadhav, Ankit Bawne, Chirag Khurana, Rahul Tripathi, Sangram Atitkar, Naushad Shaikh, Vijay Zol, Akshay Darekar, Shrikant Mundhe, Samad Fallah, Nikit Dhumal, Domnic Joseph, Anupam Sanklecha.

Scorecard and ball-by-ball detailsFile photo: Assad Vala top-scored with 87 and took three wickets•Peter Della Penna

Papua New Guinea registered a slender two-wicket win against Nepal in Abu Dhabi, by chasing down 233 with only three balls to spare. PNG’s innings was led by Assad Vala’s 87 until the 49th over after they were struggling on 138 for 6.PNG were off to a brisk start, the opening stand putting up 35 in seven overs. However, two wickets each from Paras Khadka and Mahaboob Alam reduced them to 97 for 4 and they were soon six down in the 30th over. That brought together Vala and Charles Amini, who to put on a crucial stand of 65 runs to take them past 200. Once Amini fell for a 42-ball 35, PNG needed another 30 from 39 balls and Vala’s presence till the penultimate over avoided further stutters, to take two points.Opting to bat, Nepal lost Anil Mandal on the first ball of the match, trapped lbw by Norman Vanua. Subash Khakurel, the other opener, steered the innings until the 35th over with a patient 63 from 104 balls, as three more wickets fell around him. He shared a reviving stand of 56 runs for the fifth wicket with Sharad Vesawkar after they were 86 for 4 in the 23rd over. Once Khakurel was dismissed, Vesawkar led them past 200 with a brisk knock of 78 from 82 balls before falling in the last over, as Nepal reached 232 for 8 but it wasn’t enough. Vala finished with 3 for 32.

Not the greatest of seasons this one for Durham opening batsman Jon Lewis.Or at least that seemed the case until today, when his sparkling centuryguided Durham out of early trouble and into a position of respectability onday one of the County Championship clash with Somerset at Chester-le-Street.On an afternoon ravaged by rain, Lewis (113*) registered his first centuryin just over twelve months to guide his team to the mark of 215/5 after ithad won the toss. His only two half-centuries this season had both comeagainst Yorkshire, and at no stage this summer had he previously compiledanything exceeding 66. Notwithstanding such a run of outs, though, he wassolid off both the front and back foot today, and offered only onesemblance of a chance – that coming on 81 as he edged a Paul Jarvisdelivery between first and second slips.For Somerset, the home team’s early woes had been inspired by some finebowling from Graham Rose (2/28). It had been the right arm paceman indeedwho had lured Michael Gough (9) to edge a comfortable catch to second slipwith the total at 17 and then attracted an inside edge on to the stumpsfrom Simon Katich (0) with the very next ball.Following the intervention of rain (over a period in mid-afternoonsufficiently lengthy to wash away thirty-one overs of action), and in thewake of a cracking burst which had seen sixty-one runs smoked from eightwayward overs from Jarvis (1/66) and Jamie Grove (1/39), Rose then put histeammates’ horror spell into even greater perspective. He beat the bats ofboth Paul Collingwood (34) and Nick Speak (7) repeatedly before KeithParsons (1/21) and then Jarvis respectively claimed those wickets to reviveSomerset’s fortunes.There followed another period of Lewis-led consolidation for Durham beforeMuazam Ali, who had reached the giddy heights of 18 after totalling sevenruns from four previous first-class innings, irrationally launched a wildhook straight to Jarvis (playing in his first Championship match of theseason) at long leg in the final over of the day.