Kent’s bid for promotion looked in the balance with one day left of their crucial rain-hit match against Leicestershire at Grace Road

31-Aug-2012
ScorecardKent’s bid for promotion looked in the balance with one day left of their crucial rain-hit match against Leicestershire at Grace Road.After Kent declared at 350 for 8, the hosts reached stumps on 171 for
3, only 30 runs short of avoiding the follow-on. Fourth-placed Kent need a victory to keep their promotion hopes alive, but may now have to set Leicestershire a second innings runs chase to try to achieve it.Matt Boyce hit an unbeaten 78 for the hosts and Brendan Nash made 119 for Kent, while Leicestershire left arm seamer, Rob Taylor claimed a career best 5 for 91.After yesterday’s washout, further showers during the morning delayed the start until 2.30pm. It meant the loss of another 37 overs to add to the 104 that were scheduled to be bowled on the second day. Kent needed to make up for lost time and added a brisk 28 runs for the loss of two more wickets before declaring on 350 for 8, with four bonus points safely tucked away.Taylor bagged his fifth wicket when he had Matt Coles caught behind, and Nash moved on to 119 before skying a catch to backward point off Jigar Naik. Nash faced 172 balls and hit a six and 13 fours.Kent made early inroads with Shreck removing Michael Thornely and Ned Eckersley as Leicestershire slipped to 14 for 2 in seven overs. Thornely edged behind and Eckersley was superbly caught at slip by Darren Stevens.But Stevens then saw both Boyce and Jones dropped off his bowling and the third wicket pair cashed in to post a partnership of 93. They rode their luck on several occasions as the ball moved around without finding the edge of the bat.Finally it did however, with former Leicestershire player Stevens again taking the catch when Jones nicked a good delivery from Coles, having made 48 off 88 balls. Boyce – growing in confidence – reached his 50 off 84 balls with five fours, while Josh Cobb soon made his intentions clear with a sweetly struck six off Charlie Shreck.He hit another five boundaries and was 31 not out at the close with Leicestershire on 171 for three, trailing by 179.

Kevin Pietersen’s exile from the England side has ended with his addition to the squad for the tour of India

David Hopps18-Oct-2012Kevin Pietersen has been added to England’s squad for the forthcoming Test series in India, so bringing to an end one of the most extraordinary stand-offs in the history of the game between a star player and those appointed to rule.It has taken 73 days for England and Pietersen to patch up their differences since he followed up what should have been one of the most triumphant moments of his career – a stirring century in the Headingley Test against South Africa – by talking of deep and perhaps irreparable divisions with the ECB and some members of the England dressing room.Once the parties began to talk, the “reintegration process” of Pietersen into the England side took only a couple of days. It just took them an extremely long time to talk.Pietersen flew back to England from the Champions League in South Africa this week for a series of meetings in Oxford and London with Andy Flower, England’s director of cricket, the captain Alastair Cook and key England players with whom his relationship had become increasingly fractious. Even a delayed flight could not prevent the speedy patching up of their differences.Confirmation that the Cold War was coming to an end came in Colombo a fortnight ago when Giles Clarke, the chairman of the ECB, flanked by a nervous Pietersen, pronounced that it was time for “forgiveness” and a reintegration into “our society.”Hugh Morris, England cricket’s managing director, made what followed all sound eminently straightforward, saying: “We were keen that Kevin should hold a series of face-to-face meetings with team management and senior players before the Test squad departs for the UAE and India next week.”The meetings were constructive and cordial and all outstanding issues have been resolved. All the England players and management are now keen to draw a line under this matter and fully focus on the cricketing challenge that lies ahead in India.”In their desire to impress upon Pietersen that no player, however talented, was greater than the team, England lacked their most destructive batsman and arguably failed to qualify for the World Twenty20 semi-finals in Sri Lanka while he was employed instead as a pundit in a Colombo TV studio.Considering the political machinations that have gone on behind the scenes, the announcement by Geoff Miller, the chief selector, of Pietersen’s return to England’s fold could not have sounded more deadpan.”We are pleased to welcome a player of Kevin’s proven international calibre back into the Test squad for such an important Test series,” his statement read. “As we anticipate that Ian Bell will return home for the birth of his first child around the time of the second Test in Mumbai, the team will benefit from having an extra batsman in the squad and all players who were originally selected for the tour will fly out as planned next week.”The addition of Pietersen will give England more options at the top of the order, bringing the possibility that he cdould bat at No 3, so allowing Jonathan Trott to be considered as an opening batsman in preference to the two other batsmen originally earmarked for the role, Nick Compton or Joe Root.Pietersen has been given licence to fulfil his Champions League commitments with Delhi Daredevils before joining up with the squad. He gave his reaction on Twitter: “BOOOOOOOOM!! The happiest days of my career have been playing cricket for ENG. Long may that continue! Thanks everyone for your kind words.”Pietersen returns then, but he returns on very different terms. It could not have been made more apparent that Flower, as England’s director of cricket, must be entirely respected, whether in judging how hard he trains or what training top he should wear to do it.Flower, who had seen the last England coach, Peter Moores, lose his job after Pietersen, as captain, encouraged and then led a rebellion, will now expect unerring loyalty.The England hierarchy is convinced that their uncompromising stance has brought Pietersen to heel and that their assertion that the team ethic is more important than any glorious individual achievement has been pronounced from the rooftops. Pietersen now has what England see as a final chance to harness his abilities to the demands of the team.Clarke, in his announcement in Colombo, made it sound as if Pietersen had been released from imprisonment. In that case, we can presume that, in England’s mind, he is still tagged, his every move watched for evidence of regression.Pietersen is back, but who knows for how long? Relationships with several England players remain frosty, particularly with the Nottinghamshire pair of Graeme Swann and Stuart Broad, who captained England in the Twenty20 World Cup in Sri Lanka.He has played his most exceptional innings when he has felt the adulation of the crowd and acceptance of his fellows. Exuberance, overstatement and an arrogant belief in his own ability are part of his DNA. He must now perform for England in India in an atmosphere, irrespective of the “success” of the integration process, which will not be healed overnight.It remains to be seen whether he will find inspiration from that or whether England, in taming their most unpredictable talent, may also have damaged him beyond measure.

Anamul Haque has been called up on the eve of the Khulna Test as cover for the injured Tamim Iqbal

Mohammad Isam20-Nov-2012Batsman Anamul Haque has been called up on the eve of the Khulna Test as cover for an injured Tamim Iqbal. It is still unclear whether the uncapped Haque will make his Test debut as Tamim tries to recover from a sore elbow.Tamim hurt a tendon in his left elbow while batting in the first innings of the Mirpur Test against West Indies. He batted only against spin in the nets on Monday, and will undergo a fitness test to determine his availability for the second Test. “Tamim sustained a muscle tendon injury during the first Test on his left elbow. He will do a fitness test later today or early tomorrow (Wednesday) morning,” the team’s physio Vibhav Singh was quoted as saying in a board release.ESPNcricinfo has learned the opener Nazimuddin will likely replace opener Junaid Siddique for the second Test, so Tamim’s injury has caused some concern for the team management which is not keen on drafting in an extra bowler in the XI in the event Tamim misses out.

Former Sri Lanka batsman Chandika Hathurusingha says he enjoying his new role as the acting head coach of the Australian state side New South Wales

Sa'adi Thawfeeq24-Dec-2012Former Sri Lanka batsman Chandika Hathurusingha, who played 26 Tests and 35 ODIs, is pleased to be fulfilling his new role as the acting head coach of the Australian state side New South Wales (NSW).”It came as a surprise, but it was recognition of my contribution to the NSW team since I became their assistant coach in September last year,” Hathurusingha said. He took over for the rest of the current Australian season following the sacking of Anthony Stuart, who had been coach of the state since May 2011.”It was not the ideal situation for me because I cannot do things my way as it is in the middle of the season, but nevertheless I am honoured,” he said.NSW is the among the most successful domestic cricket teams in Australia, with a rich history of many players having represented the national team. The present side includes Australia captain Michael Clarke, his deputy Shane Watson, David Warner, Mitchell Starc, Brad Haddin, Doug Bollinger, Trent Copeland, Josh Hazlewood, Pat Cummins, Moises Henriques, Steve Smith and state captain Stephen O’Keefe – all of whom have represented Australia at some point in their careers.”It is a matter of prestige for a Sri Lankan to be coaching such a side. I enjoy working with them,” Hathurusingha said.Hathurusingha, whose CV includes being coach of Canada and the UAE, had at one point been thought of as a replacement for former head coach Trevor Bayliss, but he doesn’t mind his current position.”I was technical advisor to the NSW team (Sydney Sixes) during the Champions League in South Africa and when Trevor Bayliss went over to Kolkata Knight Riders, I more or less took over his position and we went on to become champions,” Hathurusingha said. “Even if I don’t get the job as head coach I am not worried. I am quite happy with my current position as assistant coach.”He said his chances of becoming the permanent head coach of NSW depended on the team’s performances this season. They are already out of the Ryobi one-day competition and are currently lying fourth in the Sheffield Shield table.”Many of our players are called up to play for Australia and this has affected our team performances,” he said. “My job is to help them achieve their goal of playing for Australia and also to develop players from the state to go and represent the country. I am not only helping the [batsmen] but even the bowlers. The feedback from them has been very encouraging. All of them are aspiring to play for Australia and I am delighted to be of help.”These players know how to take care of themselves individually. They are independent and once they are told something they go ahead and do it. That comes from their culture. In Sri Lanka, some of the players need to be pushed.”Hathurusingha was sacked by the previous Sri Lanka Cricket administration under DS de Silva as he had not obeyed the chairman’s orders not to return early from a tour of Zimbabwe to follow a coaching course in Australia in 2011. He left for Australia with his family and took on the job as assistant coach of NSW.”My sacking turned out to be a blessing in disguise. I was disappointed the way I was asked to go. I would have loved to have coached my country but unfortunately the administrators at that time did not see it that way.”

Wicketkeeper-batsman Karu Jain and allrounder Thirush Kamini have been included in India’s 15-member squad for the Women’s World Cup to be held in Mumbai

ESPNcricinfo staff31-Dec-2012Wicketkeeper-batsman Karu Jain and allrounder Thirush Kamini have been included in India’s 15-member squad for the Women’s World Cup to be held in Mumbai. Offspinner Archana Das, who debuted in February 2012 and played nine ODIs this year, has been left out.Twenty-seven-year-old Jain last played an ODI more than four years ago, on India’s tour of England. Kamini’s last ODI appearance was also against England, in February 2010.The team will be led by Mithali Raj, who was also the captain of the side during the 2005 World Cup in South Africa; India had then finished as the runners-up, their best showing in this tournament.India are placed in Group A along with West Indies, Sri Lanka and three-time champions England. They play their first match against West Indies on January 31 at the Wankhede Stadium.Squad: Mithali Raj (captain), Harmanpreet Kaur (vice-captain), Ekta Bisht, Karu Jain, Jhulan Goswami, Reema Malhotra, Mona Meshram, Sulakshana Naik, Nagarajan Niranjana, Rasanara Parwin, Poonam Raut, Amita Sharma, Shubhlakshmi Sharma, Thirush Kamini, Gouher Sultana

While captain Misbah-ul-Haq was happy Pakistan managed to get off to a winning start in the three-match ODI series against India, he believes the team still has a lot to work on, especially in the field

ESPNcricinfo staff30-Dec-2012While captain Misbah-ul-Haq was happy Pakistan managed to get off to a winning start in the three-match ODI series against India, he believes the team still has a lot to work on, especially in the field. Pakistan, he said, were fortunate to walk away with the six-wicket win in Chennai.”Today we were lucky, India gave us a tough time in this situation. They lost five wickets early but still went on to make 227,” Misbah was quoted as saying by . “To win the next match, we will have to work hard and improve a fair bit. We have to really improve our fielding, and our death-over and Powerplay bowling. After these [changes to the] ODI rules especially, we have to improve the bowling.”Also, we have to improve our batting performances; we couldn’t chase the target down easily.”While Pakistan’s victory-margin was ultimately comfortable, they lost a wicket off the first ball of their innings when Mohammad Hafeez shouldered arms to a Bhuvneshwar Kumar inswinger. From there on, it was slow and edgy progress for Pakistan, who were 21 for 2 in the 11th over when Azhar Ali lobbed a catch to midwicket. Opener Nasir Jamshed was firm though, batting through the innings for 101 not out, and Younis Khan was relatively positive for his 58, ensuring victory.The hosts’ top order too had struggled in this, one of the rare day ODIs in India. Junaid Khan had India reeling with a remarkable spell of swing bowling, in which he bowled Virender Sehwag, Virat Kohli and Yuvraj Singh in the space of eight balls.Both Misbah and India captain MS Dhoni said that while it was outstanding bowling, the toss too was important. “It was a good toss to win, but it was an excellent spell by Junaid. There was something for the bowlers but of you don’t bowl in the right areas when the ball is seaming, you don’t get results,” Misbah said. Dhoni agreed: “I think it was the toss to start with. After that they bowled well. When the ball is seaming or swinging, if you pitch it in the right areas it works.”If you see their bowlers, they bowled up which was good. Generally on these kind of wickets there will be temptation to bowl short because there will be bounce and carry, but they made sure they bowled up and left the batsmen in trouble.”With India tottering at 29 for 5 in the 10th, Suresh Raina and Dhoni began the rebuilding, adding 73 runs. Raina was out short of a half-century but Dhoni, in extremely humid conditions, paced his innings and finished unbeaten. He was 34 off 78 balls without a boundary, got to 50 off 86 and was battling dehydration when he launched, finishing with 113 off 125. The innings won him the Man of the Match award ahead of Jamshed.Misbah had high praise for Dhoni: “At one stage, it looked as if India would be getting out for 125 but Dhoni’s was a brilliant innings. It was more difficult to play in the first half. There was lot of moisture but very well played by Dhoni. He single-handedly took the game away from us, but in the end Nasir too played an extremely good knock.”Dhoni said he would have preferred to have India’s top order clicking: “Overall quite happy that I got a century. But going down the order, batting at six or seven, and if you get a 100 … actually you don’t want an opportunity like that because you want your top order to perform.”One of the big concerns for India was the fitness of Kohli, whose ankle gave way under him while he was bowling, resulting in him over-extending his knee. Dhoni said the team would know the details of the injury in “some time”. Later, a BCCI release confirmed that while an MRI scan revealed no serious damage, whether Kohli will play the next ODI – on January 3 in Kolkata – is yet to be determined. “All his major ligaments are fine. There is minimal injury fluid in his knee,” the release said. “His condition will be monitored, and a decision on whether he will play the second ODI will be taken over the next couple of days.”

Pakistan Women lost their second warm-up match against Odisha XI by four wickets in Cuttack

ESPNcricinfo staff30-Jan-2013Pakistan Women lost their second warm-up match against Odisha XI by four wickets in Cuttack.Pakistan were bowled out for a low total of 154 after they chose to bat. The start was not ideal as they lost both their openers with only two runs on the board, both dismissed by Sujata Mallik (2 for 13). But Sana Mir (25) and Nain Abidi (29) stabilised the innings with a 50-run stand. This was followed by Bismah Maroof’s knock of 44 who held one end together but saw regular wickets fall at the other end. When she fell in the 42nd over, Pakistan were 143 for 7 and Odisha XI wrapped up their innings on 154. Sushree Pradhan took 3 for 41 runs in her nine overs.Odisha’s chase was not smooth as they scored at a slow pace and were 50 for 3 in the 20th over. But a 61-ball 50 from Swagatika Rath and an unbeaten knock from Pragyan Mohanty (28 off 82) helped them reach the target with four wickets in hand.

Ryan Harris and Michael Hussey dueled at the WACA ground before Joe Burns fought to give Queensland a narrow lead over Western Australia at stumps on day three of the Sheffield Shield match

ESPNcricinfo staff16-Mar-2013
ScorecardRyan Harris and Michael Hussey dueled at the WACA ground before Joe Burns fought to give Queensland a narrow lead over Western Australia at stumps on day three of the Sheffield Shield match.Both sides must win outright to elbow their way into the competition final, and Hussey’s innings gave WA first-innings points despite the best efforts of Harris, who collected six wickets to further enhance his bid for an Ashes tour berth.Hussey would ultimately fall short of a century for the second match in as many weeks, but his innings gave WA an advantage that Ryan Duffield set about using, nipping out three wickets with his left-arm swing.Burns held his ground and pushed the lead past 100, but more will be needed on the final day.

A fine display of swing bowling from Trent Boult may have struck the decisive blow for New Zealand in an encounter against England full of twists and turns

The Report by George Dobell23-Mar-2013
Scorecard and ball-by-ball detailsApart from losing wickets, England struggled for fluency: Nick Compton’s 13 occupied just two minutes short of two hours•Getty Images

A fine display of swing bowling from Trent Boult may have struck the decisive blow for New Zealand in an encounter against England full of twists and turns.Boult, the left-arm fast-medium bowler, claimed 6 for 68 – his first five-wicket haul in Test cricket – as England were dismissed for 204 in their first innings. That gave New Zealand a first innings lead of 239 but, eschewing the chance to enforce the follow-on, they extended their lead to 274 before stumps.Those second innings runs came at quite a cost, though. New Zealand, perhaps suffering from acrophobia as they realised the dominance of their position, stumbled to 8 for 3 at one stage in their second innings as England revived their slim hopes of forcing a win. Peter Fulton and Dean Brownlie saw New Zealand to the close without further loss, but New Zealand’s lack of progress raised questions about the wisdom of not enforcing the follow-on.Still, Boult’s performance had earned his side an excellent chance of securing a rare Test series win over England. New Zealand remain the side in the stronger position, and with the pitch showing just a little sign of uneven bounce, it may not be easy to bat upon on the last day. No side has ever scored 350 in the fourth innings to win on this ground – though West Indies chased down 345 to win in 1969 – and, since they introduced drop-in pitches at Eden Park just over a decade ago, no side has ever chased more than the 166 Australia managed in 2005. Besides, without Kevin Pietersen, England appear a far more diffident side.For a team dismissed as no-hopers by some commentators coming into the series, this has been an impressive performance by New Zealand. They are currently rated No. 8 in the Test rankings, but they have looked the better side for significant portions of this encounter and now have an excellent opportunity to embarrass the No. 2 rated team. New Zealand have previously only beaten England at home in one Test series, in 1983-84, and away in two, in 1986 and in
1999.The pitch showed no signs of deterioration for most of the day. It is simply that New Zealand’s seamers bowled a little fuller, a little straighter and gained a little more swing than England had on the first couple of days. In short, New Zealand bowled better than England’s much-vaunted attack. Bruce Martin, who came into this series largely unknown outside New Zealand, generated turn and bounce that Monty Panesar, his left-arm counterpart, could not and, as a result, looked a far more threatening proposition.Even in New Zealand’s second innings, England could find minimal swing. New Zealand lost their wickets more to nerves than swing and Boult, bowling with decent pace, maintaining a tight line and managing to swing some back into the right-hand batsmen and angle some across them, was the most dangerous bowler on display. He was able to find movement that even James Anderson could not.It was during the first session of the day that New Zealand hammered a nail into England’s hopes. Generating swing, they claimed three lbw decisions in the session to leave England teetering on 72 for 5 at one stage.

Smart stats

• Trent Boult’s 6 for 68 is his best bowling performance in Tests, surpassing his previous best of 4 for 42 against Sri Lanka at the P Sara Oval. He has picked up 40 wickets at an average of 30.22.

• Boult’s 6 for 68 is eighth on the list of best bowling performances by New Zealand bowlers against England and the second-best in Auckland after Chris Cairns (6 for 52 in 1992) and Daryl Tuffey (6 for 54 in 2002).

• The lead of 239 is New Zealand’s fifth-largest against England and their second-highest when they have batted first. Click here for a list of matches when New Zealand have batted first and here for a list of matches when New Zealand have batted second.

• The 101-run stand between Matt Prior and Joe Root is the sixth-highest sixth-wicket stand for England in New Zealand. The highest is 281 between Andrew Flintoff and Graham Thorpe in Christchurch in 2002.

• Prior’s 73 is his second half-century of the series and the 32nd fifty-plus score of his career. Prior’s average of 46.84 is the highest among batsmen with 2000-plus runs at No. 7.

Tim Southee made the breakthrough in the third over of the morning. Having generally swung the ball away from the right-handed batsmen, natural variation resulted in one going straight on and striking Nick Compton on the pad. While the umpire, Paul Reiffel, declined the original appeal on the grounds that the ball may well have hit the bat before hitting the pad, New Zealand were quick to call for a review that showed that the ball had made first contact with the pad.Ian Bell went in similar fashion. Bell, who had come close to running himself out in the second over of the day, diving to regain his ground after committing to an unnecessarily risky second run, was also undone by one that went straight on from Southee. Perhaps intimidated by the aggressive field utilised by New Zealand captain, Brendon McCullum – there were times when New Zealand’s seamers had five slips – Bell looked unwilling to commit to playing at the ball and was caught in the crease when struck on the pad. He conferred with his batting partner, Joe Root, before deciding not to utilise the Decision Review System. It was a wise decision.Boult, who had claimed the two wickets to fall the previous evening, claimed the final wicket of the session, beating Jonny Bairstow’s tentative forward prod with one that pitched on middle stump and swung back just enough to beat the stroke. Again, the original appeal was declined but New Zealand utilised the DRS and were rewarded for their confidence. If Bairstow had looked somewhat out of form, it was hardly a surprise: this was his first innings in first-class cricket since the Mumbai Test in November and only his second since the Lord’s Test in August.Only two men offered meaningful resistance for England. Matt Prior and Joe Root added 101 runs for the sixth wicket, with Prior counterattacking fluently and Root defending with obduracy that would have had his Yorkshire predecessor Geoff Boycott smiling in satisfaction.Whereas his colleagues prodded timidly – Compton’s 13 runs occupied only two minutes fewer than two hours and England scored just 42 runs in 29 overs before lunch – Prior skipped down the pitch to drive Martin through the off side and when given any width from the seamers, freed his arms to drive through the covers.His strength was his undoing, however. Offered some width from Neil Wagner, Prior attempted to drive on the up but could only slice a thick edge to point.Dean Brownlie could be forgiven for breathing a sigh of relief. Brownlie, at slip, had reprieved Prior on 24 when the batsman had pushed hard at one outside off stump from the deserving Southee and edged low to Brownlie’s right. Had the chance been taken, England would have been 111 for 6.Prior’s dismissal precipitated a swift decline. England lost their last five wickets for just 31 runs as Boult, armed with the new ball, returned to mop up the tail. Stuart Broad, now little more than a happy slogger, thrashed 14 in three balls but, in attempting to force the next delivery, sliced a catch to short extra cover before Steven Finn prodded at one angled across him. Anderon edged a beauty that left him, and Root, left with only Panesar for company, attempted to thrash a good length ball over midwicket and lost his off stump.

Glamorgan imploded in spectator style when in sight of victory on an afternoon of astonishing drama that saw Glen Chapple rally Lancashire to victory

Paul Edwards at Colwyn Bay03-May-2013Lancashire 123 (Glover 3-29, Hogan 3-31) and 272 (Katich 65, Glover 3-41) beat Glamorgan 242 (Goodwin 69, Kerrigan 4-48) and 139 (Kerrigan 5-32, Chapple 4-64) by 14 runs
ScorecardGlen Chapple, so often Lancashire’s hero, took four wickets to inspire a miraculous victory•PA Photos

A glance at the scorecard for this match will do little to convey the intricacy of the contest over three days or the astonishing drama that unfolded on Friday evening when Glamorgan seemed to be progressing to what would have been a deserved victory in facile fashion, only to implode in spectacular style when within sight of 20 points.Needing to score 154 in a maximum of 47 overs on the third evening, Glamorgan cruised to 94 for 2 in 18.2 overs before losing the remainder of their wickets for 45 runs in 19.2 overs.Destroyer-in-chief was Glen Chapple, who once again proved that age is just a number when you have skill and core fitness in abundance. He had been roughly treated early in the innings yet he returned to take four wickets including top scorer Will Bragg for 61. Accurate and penetrative, Chapple is always at the batsmen, but so is Simon Kerrigan, the sorcerer’s apprentice. Bowling from the Penrhyn Avenue End, Kerrigan contained the batsmen and among his five wickets was the vital scalp of Murray Goodwin, caught by Simon Katich for 11 when attempting a cut.It was Kerrigan who had last man Michael Hogan spectacularly caught by a leaping Ashwell Prince on the long-off boundary as Hogan sought to score the 15 runs his team needed in something like three blows. That wicket sparked joyous scenes in front of the Colwyn Bay pavilion by Chapple and his players who were celebrating their first Championship win in 11 matches, a run stretching back to last June’s triumph on a gloomy Saturday evening at Chester-le-Street.But at first it had been the Glamorgan batsmen who were racing towards victory. Spectators settling down after tea expected the siege of Stalingrad; instead they got the Battle of M’boto Gorge from Blackadder Goes Forth. Wallace’s openers seemingly had little truck with arguments suggesting cautious accumulation was the best policy. Ben Wright and Will Bragg garnered 38 runs off the first 27 balls of the innings, a result of some over-pitched bowling, a few edges and a fast outfield, before Wright cut James Anderson low to Karl Brown in the gully. It seemed both teams had plans for Saturday. Now Lancashire’s players may be nursing the odd sore head while Glamorgan’s will be wondering where it all went wrong.”That win’s right up there with any we have achieved over the last two years,” Chapple said. “It’s a terrific victory and a great boost for the lads who have worked hard. It’s been a difficult week for us in some ways because we have not played our best cricket but we hung on and kept believing. We’ve come away with a victory we’ll remember for a long time.”But as Glamorgan discovered to their cost, getting into a winning position is one thing; sealing the victory – “bringing home the bread” as they call it in parts of Manchester – is very much another. At 12.22pm on the third day of this match Simon Katich essayed a drive at Glamorgan seamer John Glover but only succeeded in edging the ball to wicketkeeper Mark Wallace. His departure for a well-made, fighting 65 left Lancashire on 164 for 7 in their second innings and their lead was a piffling 45. It seemed Glamorgan were on their way to consecutive victories.Then again, this is cricket, a game which delights in taking the absurdly improbable and making it so. First Chapple and Gareth Cross added 42 for the eighth wicket, Chapple whacking Hogan into the back garden of a nearby house during his innings of 26. Then, when Chapple had holed out at mid-on off Mike Reed when the lead was 89, Kyle Hogg joined Cross, who was himself playing on the ground of the club he has represented in the Liverpool competition for some years. Together, these Lancastrians put on a further 63 runs with a mixture of shrewd aggression and unsparing vigilance.Rarely has Cross, a naturally aggressive batsman, played with more responsibility than he did during his 143-minute innings of 26; it took a fine two-handed diving catch by Dean Cosker to remove him. One run later Hogg gave Glover his third wicket when he stretched to drive and trudged off having made 47, yet another reminder of a frequently unfulfilled talent. All the same Lancashire’s lead was 153. It was, as they say, game on.The first session of the day had been as well contested and involving as its predecessors. Lancastrian hopes that Jimmy Anderson would frustrate the Glamorgan bowlers in the classic manner of the specialist nightwatchman were quickly demolished when the England batsman was beaten all ends up by Jim Allenby in the third over of the day when only a single run had been added to the overnight total.But likewise, Welsh fancies that the visitors’ batting would disintegrate like candyfloss in a high wind were similarly unfounded. Instead Katich and Steven Croft batted with busy, acquisitive competence to add 49 runs in fifteen overs before both batsmen perished caught behind attempting to drive in the space of three overs. Croft was the first to go, playing loosely at Reed, then Glover took the key wicket of Katich when he drove in a flurry of dust and footholds and Tim Robinson decided he had edged the ball. Not everyone was convinced but Katich trooped silently off. Never walk, never complain. He had made 65, an innings which had certainly kept his side in the game. As things turned out, it played a large part in winning it.