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Alec Stewart and Alex Tudor neutered a position of some concern for their side when they put on an unbeaten 187 for the seventh wicket. Both batsman finished the day in the nineties which included a career-best Championship score for Tudor that saw the home side needing seven more runs to obtain their full quota of batting bonus points.Their partnership began with Surrey 206-6 after paceman Ricky Anderson had taken three wickets to boost his tally for the season to 25 but then Stewart and Tudor repaired the damage, displaying little concern for the Essex attack.Stewart’s elaborate strokeplay was matched by his partner’s more uncompromising approach to leave their opponents attack dispirited as the home side moved forcibly into a position of some substance.None of the six bowlers used by Ronnie Irani could unhinge the Surrey pair who moved on relentlessly to reach a new seventh-wicket partnership for the county against Essex, surpassing the previous best of 166 between Andy Ducat and Herbert Strudwick in 1921 at Leyton.After a bright start when Mark Butcher and Ian Ward put on 76 for the opening wicket, Essex restored some balance to proceedings thanks to Anderson’s efforts which included the scalps of Graham Thorpe and Ali Brown in the space of six deliveries to leave the bowler with figures of 3-67 at that stage.Left-armer Mark Ilott took the 600th wicket of his first-class career when he bowled Mark Ramprakash who played across the line and added to his impressive haul when he later accounted for Ben Holliaoke, just recalled by England for the forthcoming triangular series.

With the third and final Test Match against New Zealand finely balanced, Somerset Chief Executive Peter Anderson reflected on the situation in his office at the County Ground this morning.Mr Anderson told me: “Like other England supporters I will be busily chewing my fingernails tonight in the hope that we can hold onto the match and win the series 1-0, but it looks as though our team could be up against it.”My thoughts are now turning to the availability of Caddick and Trescothick for the coming season’s matches, particularly in the light of Marcus Trescothick’s continued assertions that he is both physically and mentally exhausted and needs a rest ahead of the home Test Match series.”I don’t know what shape Caddick is in because over the last year he has not bowled that many overs. In the England home series he was not over bowled, for Somerset last summer he only bowled 88 overs and he has bowled the same on the winter tour of New Zealand.”In his case it did seem that he struggled for rhythm through not bowling since the end of the home international season and it might just be that Duncan Fletcher feels that he needs to get some domestic overs under his belt before the start of the home Test match series. Whatever his decision the club accepts that Caddick’s availability will be very limited this season.”But what we really want to know is will Richard Johnson be centrally contracted, and if so will he regularly feature in the England side. If not will he be released to play for Somerset?”Will Steffan Jones finally be recognised by England as an effective one day bowler, and if so does that mean he will be missing for the England triangular one day series in the middle of the season?”Those queries then lead us to the nub of our dilemma. How good are Bulbeck, Trego, Francis and Tucker? How are we going to find out, because they can’t all play in the first team which is the real testing ground.”

Sarandeep Singh could not have had the happiest of bowling spells at the Bourda in Guyana. He and his fellow trundlers were forced to toil relentlessly under a hot sun, and Sarandeep himself had only one wicket to show for it. Yet he was able to look on the brighter side of the situation.”I know that Bishan Singh Bedi will be happier than me today,” said the off-spinner at the end of the first day’s play of the first Test match between India and the West Indies.Asked why, Sarandeep, with nine wickets thus far from his first two Tests, said, “I wasn’t sure of playing the Test. So when he switched on the television and saw me playing, he must have been happy, since he was always behind me.”Before being called up for emergency duty by the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI), he was informed of the move by Madan Lal, one of the selectors. The information spurred Sarandeep to fly straight to New Delhi and land up at the home of the greatest Indian left-arm spinner of them all – Bedi.Bedi, incidentally, was in the Caribbean for both the 1971 and 1975-76 tours, skippering the touring party in the second one. India won two Tests at Port-of-Spain in those tours, their only successes in the islands. One would be hard-pressed, therefore, to find a better person to advise Sarandeep on how to bowl spin on West Indian wickets.Sarandeep did just that and came out of Bedi’s house with some invaluable tips. “He had asked me to bowl in such a way that the ball does not reach to the batsman too fast,” he said. “Instead, the batsman should try to reach the ball. Being natural stroke-makers, the Caribbean batsmen will find it difficult to execute and can be victimised. That was the first thing Bishan Sir told me.””It is wise in the Caribbean for the spinner to be tight in line and length. The batsman should be invited to attack the spinner. So you should try to bowl wicket to wicket. If you can do so, half the battle is won,” was further advice that Bedi gave to his young pupil.Sarandeep, on the first day, was seen trying to put those instructions into practice, but in Carl Hooper he ran up against one of the finest contemporary batsmen of spin who, to make matters more difficult, was in the midst of a scintillating run of form.Did he ask for any specific tips on how to bowl to Brian Lara, especially after the way he batted against Muttiah Muralitharan? “He just advised me to bowl wicket to wicket again and not allow Lara to play his strokes,” said Sarandeep. “‘The ball should not be outside the stumps; he looks for width. Deny him that space,’ he told me. But that Lara was exceptionally successful against Murali is a fact I won’t remember while bowling against him. I have to bowl according to my own plans.”Of late, Sarandeep has also developed the “doosra,” or the off-spinners away-going delivery, and this has garnered him many wickets in domestic matches. “I got Nasser Hussain in the Bangalore Test with the ‘doosra.’ So I am well-equipped with it and know how and when to use it,” said Sarandeep.

By the time India and the West Indies next met in the Caribbean, thehome team was well and truly regarded as the best in the world. Theywas never any chance of India repeating their feat of 1971, especiallyafter losing badly in Pakistan just before the series against the WestIndies. A comfortable victory was predicted for the home team and, inthe end, the 2-0 victory in the five-match series would seem to be avindication of such forecasting.

When the Indians landed in the West Indies, Kapil Dev, in his firstassignment as captain, and manager Hanumant Singh made it clear thatthey did consider the home side as a formidable unit and almostinvincible. But they also promised to give it everything to ensure agood series in which the West Indies would be forced to fight forvictory. Instead of being accused of being defeatist in their outlook,Kapil and Hanumant received praise for quickly grasping the reality ofthe situation.The home team was then in the midst of their record run of 27 matcheswithout a loss. With the batting being manned by the likes of GordonGreenidge, Desmond Haynes, Vivian Richards, Clive Lloyd, Jeff Dujon,Larry Gomez and Gus Logie, and with a fearsome quartet of fast bowlersin Malcolm Marshall, Michael Holding, Andy Roberts and Joel Garner toback them up, it can easily be seen why the West Indians were ‘numerouno’ in the cricketing world by a long way.What did India have to match this outstanding line-up? The debacle inPakistan had necessitated a few changes, the most important one takingplace at the top, with Kapil replacing Sunil Gavaskar. For the firsttime since 1969, the Indian team was without Gundappa Viswanath,dropped after 87 consecutive Tests.But the batting still had a capable look about it, for besidesGavaskar and Kapil, players like Mohinder Amarnath, Dilip Vengsarkar,Yashpal Sharma, Anshuman Gaekwad, Ravi Shastri and Syed Kirmani werearound. The bowling too looked balanced, with Kapil, Balwinder Sandhuand Madan Lal to handle the new ball, and Srinivas Venkataraghavan,Shastri, Maninder Singh and L Sivaramakrishnan to give the old ball atweak. Maninder and Siva, both teenage prodigies, had shown promise inPakistan, while Venkat was recalled after three-and-a-quarter years,both in view of his fine performances on the two previous tours andalso to lend experience to the spin attack.Whatever the strengths of the visiting side, the line-up of the twoteams clearly showed that the West Indies were the better team, moreso under home conditions; this was amply reflected in the finalresult. But if the Indians lost, they certainly were not disgraced.The West Indies won the first Test with just four balls to spare, theseries was kept alive till the final day of the fourth Test, and thetourists won a lot of friends by their fighting spirit and never-saydie attitude.None displayed this more than Amarnath. He had come good on hiscomeback series in Pakistan, and now he carried this form throughagainst the West Indies. Never flinching, Amarnath not only faced thepace quartet’s barrage of bouncers and short-pitched bowling withbatting that was the apotheosis of courage, but he also scored freelyoff them.Daring hooks became his trademark, but he also drove effortlessly andcut ferociously. To the 584 runs he scored against Pakistan, Amarnathadded another 598, with two hundreds and four fifties. Little wonderthen that, by the end of the tour, he was hailed as the best player offast bowling in the world. Such was his form that on May 3, the finalday of the series, Amarnath crossed 1,000 runs for the calendar year,the fastest batsman to reach the mark.Unfortunately the other players could not take a leaf from Amarnath’sbook, and the batting was rather patchy. Shastri confirmed his earlypromise by getting a century in the final Test, Kapil hammered anunbeaten 100 off just 95 balls in the closing stages of the drawnsecond Test, while Gavaskar got his customary three-figure knock (his27th ton in Tests) in the rain-affected game at Georgetown, the venuewhere he had notched up his maiden hundred 12 years before. But morewas expected from them, as also from Yashpal, Gaekwad and Vengsarkar.Confronted with a line-up of awesome stroke-players, the bowlers werealways going to find it tough going, and it speaks volumes for Kapil’scapabilities that he took 17 wickets at an average of only 24.94. Infact, in the second game of the series, his 50th Test, he became, at24 years and 68 days, the youngest player to complete the double of2000 runs and 200 wickets.The recall of Venkat was hardly successful, his 10 wickets costing him58.60 apiece, although it must be admitted that he suffered the mostthrough dropped catches. Maninder and Siva, perhaps a bit awed by theopposition, could make little impression in the limited opportunitiesthat came their way. At 17 years and 118 days, Siva became theyoungest Indian to make his Test debut when he played the final gameof the series. Shastri at best was steady without being penetrative,while the medium-pace of Sandhu and Madan Lal proved no more thanamiable. To make matters worse, Kirmani had a mediocre tour, missing anumber of catches and stumpings.From the Indian viewpoint, there was one significant event away fromthe Test arena – the victory in the second one-day international atBerbice. The West Indies were then the undisputed champions in thelimited-overs game, while India’s record was woeful. And yet, thanksmainly to Gavaskar’s electrifying 90 and Kapil’s swashbuckling 72 off38 balls with seven fours and three sixes, India smashed 282 for fiveoff 47 overs ­ then the highest total by any team against the WestIndies.Kapil, Sandhu, Madan Lal and Shastri then restricted West Indies to255 for nine in 47 overs, and the 27-run win was just the tonic theIndians needed for their World Cup challenge in England a few monthslater. What happened there is, of course, much too well-known to bechronicled here.

The Western Australian Cricket Association (WACA) and QantasLink have joined forces to encourage the development of cricket in Tom Price and Paraburdoo, two of Australia s most remote regional communities.The two parties last week signed a joint one year sponsorship deal to launch the QantasLink Development Program.The program will help young people become involved in cricket and develop their cricketing potential.Located on the North West Coastal Highway in the Unique North of Western Australia s Pilbra region, PARABURDOO is one of WA s many purpose built mining towns and gateway to the spectacular Karijini National Park.TOM PRICE is also located in the Pilbara region, provides access to the mineral wealth of the Hamersley Range and is the stepping off point for exploration of Karijini National Park.The QantasLink Development Program will be run by the WACA s specialised team of Cricket Development Officers in conjunction with local volunteers and the sponsorship will help provide access to Tom Price and Paraburdoo.The program will involve coach education and the provision of opportunities to play at higher levels, with the aim of developing cricket at grass roots level.WACA Game Development Manager Phil Gregson said,The WACA is thrilled to be given such an opportunity to help develop cricket in remote regions of Western Australia like Tom Price and Paraburdoo, thanks to the assistance of QantasLink .We hope the program will impact on and benefit not only the WACA and QantasLink, but also the communities of Tom Price and Paraburdoo .Justine Bell-Morris, Marketing Manager for QantasLink said,”QantasLink is delighted to be involved in assisting the WACA to develop cricket in Tom Price and Paraburdoo. We hope the QantasLink Development Program will encourage the young people in these towns to also become involved in the great game of cricket”.

Ladies Day 25th JulyC & G Cheltenham Cricket Festival Ladies DayThursday 25th JulyGloucestershire CCC v Middlesex CCC£25 per headPlease contact Marie Journeaux on 01242 514420 for ticketsSnape chosen for EnglandOur congratulation go to Jeremy Snape who has been named in the England OneDay International Squad for the forthcoming NatWest Series against India &Sri Lanka.The England Squad is as followsN Hussain Captain
P Collingwood
A Flintoff
A Giles
D Gough
M Hoggard
R Irani
J Kirtley
N Knight
J Snape
A Stewart
G Thorpe
M Trescothick
A Tudor
M Vaughan
C & G Trophy Quarter FinalGloucestershire CCC have been drawn away to Kent CCC in the quarter final ofthe C & G Trophy.The match will be played at Canterbury on Tuesday 16th July.Tickets will be available from Gloucestershire CCC Ticket office on 0117 9108000Ticket Prices are £12 Adults and £8 for OAP’s and Juniors

Lymington’s three-pronged spin attack is expected to hold the key to the outcome of tomorrow’s Southern Electric Premier League, Division 2 promotion clash against United Services at the Sports Ground, 1pm.The New Forest club believes it has few equals to the off-break pairing of Danny Peacock and Glyn Treagus, and the left-arm flight and guile of Western Australian slow left-armer Aaron Heal, who have taken a combined total of 51 wickets this season.They will unquestionably be the key players as Lymington look to extend their five-match winning sequence against a Services team lying just behind the Hampshire Academy in the log."It’s a key game in both camps," confesses Lymington skipper Peacock. "And neither of us can afford to lose it."Lymington are unchanged, while Services – who beat Peacock’s men by 61 runs earlier in the season – go into combat minus Royal Navy opener Mark Toogood and John Mann, their former Combined Services all-rounder.Significantly, US have chosen not to include a specialist slow bowler on a Lymington surface which is sure to turn.The Hampshire Academy, three points in front at the top, go to SEC Cup semi-finalists Rowledge on a revenge mission."One of Rowledge’s two wins came against us in a thrilling finish earlier on, so we have a score to settle,"says Academy coach Tony Middleton."I’ve said all along, Rowledge are a much better side than their bottom position suggests."They’ve got a huge weekend coming up, with a National Village game on Sunday and the Premier Cup semi-final at South Wilts on Monday, so they are bound to be up for it."Middleton delays his Academy choice, but may recall teenager David Griffiths, if the Shanklin medium-pacer comes though today’s Hampshire Under-17 game at Burridge.Third-placed Easton & Martyr Worthy host Old Tauntonians & Romsey, while Rob Savage will face some of his old team-mates when Sparsholt play Winchester KS at River Park.Trojans need to build upon last week’s win at Sparsholt if they are to claw away from the bottom.But skipper Simon Williams knows he has to make do without four first choice players at Stoneham Lane against Hungerford, who are equally in need of survival points.St Cross Symondians, the new Division 3 leaders, entertain Leckford, who are strengthened by Mike Howard’s return.Flamingo’s tussle with Purbrook is the pick of the games, although a home date with Hursley Park is of vital consequence to Alton, whose three-week leadership was ended by a crushing nine-wicket defeat by New Milton.Alton, now fractionally behind St Cross, expect to be at full strength.Milton, meanwhile, take a full strength team to Hambledon aiming to boost their outside promotion hopes.Ventnor’s home meeting with Hartley Wintney features the champions and runners-up of the Hampshire League last season.The Islanders won by a country mile last year, but – like their North Hampshire rivals – are in desperate need of relegation points this term.Basement boys Redlynch & Hale have a mass unavailability at Gosport due to a wedding in the Wiltshire border village.

At the outset of the fourth day, England were harbouring hopes of a resolute last wicket partnership between Alec Stewart and Matthew Hoggard to reduce the massive deficit and to use up some valuable time. Stewart will feature again on the fifth morning, this time carrying English hopes along with his captain, Nasser Hussain. After England were forced to follow on and lost four wickets, Hussain and Stewart stood firm for 38 overs, adding 91defiant runs to reduce the deficit to 116. India are still favourites to win, and deservedly so, but they have a fight on their hands.As it was, Stewart and Hoggard, the not out overnight batsmen, only occupied the crease for four overs and 13 minutes before the innings came to an end. The last ball of Anil Kumble’s second over of the morning was adjudged to have taken the edge before it hit Hoggard’s pad from which it bounced up into the hands of Virender Sehwag at short leg and the innings was over.Stewart was left stranded on 78 as Sourav Ganguly enforced the follow on with England still 355 runs in arrears and the daunting prospect of having to bat for virtually two days to save the match. Not even the weather appeared ready to come to England’s aid. On a bright, breezy morning at Headingley, the forecast was for more of the same.It was a case of more of the same at the outset of England’s second innings. With attacking fields, there were opportunities to find the boundary and Michael Vaughan and Robert Key duly obliged. However, the situation demanded that they should be rather more circumspect than usual while the variable bounce of the pitch allowed few liberties to be taken.The ball that accounted for Vaughan second time around did not appear to behave in any extraordinary way. He was caught on the crease by Ajit Agarkar and the only doubt in umpire Dave Orchard’s mind could have been the height, allowing for the fact that Agarkar was bowling down hill from the Kirkstall Lane end and the ball made contact just above the knee roll. Orchard has not built his umpiring reputation as as a “not outer” and Vaughan was on his way.Key again played with a composure to suggest he has the temperament for Test cricket while Mark Butcher joined him in a partnership that survived until lunch, but within four overs of the restart, Key was out. He rather fell across his stumps and was hit right in front by Kumble with only one possible outcome.Butcher had played some glorious strokes on his way to a score of 42 when he played one he will view less than fondly. Sanjay Bangar had taken one Test wicket before, but he really should not have got another with a ball wide of off stump that a leaden-footed Butcher edged to slip where he was smartly taken by Rahul Dravid.John Crawley gave Bangar another unlikely scalp when he forced him off the back foot into the covers at shoulder height to Sehwag who needed two attempts to hang onto the chance. The look on Nasser Hussain’s face at the other end was a study as he witnessed the relatively innocuous Bangar account for two of his middle order colleagues.Hussain himself was living a little dangerously. Apart from taking another physical battering, he was also prepared to take on the bowlers, pulling in the air whenever they dropped short despite the fact that two men were posted out for that very eventuality. Nevertheless, he survived until tea with the ever-dependable Stewart and then settled down as the pair batted with genuine authority.With Harbhajan Singh and Kumble in operation on a surface giving them some assistance, there were always going to be moments of excitement and none of the Indian bowlers and fielders missed an opportunity for an animated appeal when it presented itself.Hussain went to his fifty from 69 balls, with his early positive approach accounting for the rapid rate. He brought up the landmark with a cut four off Kumble – the first the bowler had conceded in his twelfth over. Hussain and Stewart later went through a period of 32 balls without scoring, only breaking the sequence to bring up the fifty partnership. They moved from 150 to 200 in 149 balls to indicate just how seriously they were taking the task.The longer Hussain and Stewart were together, the more feasible an unlikely escape became. Hussain was visibly annoyed with himself when he played and missed at Bangar and Stewart occasionally kept the close catchers interested, but the pair gradually got the runs flowing again as the sun came out to bathe Headingley in glorious evening light.India took the new ball four overs before the close and one sensed a mental battle as the batsmen fought to hold their concentration together so they could carry their fight into the final day. That could finish very quickly, or it might prove to be an absolute cracker.

South Africa have an embarrassingly clean slate against Kenya. The Proteas, second only to Australia in world cricket at the moment, are especially well-organised when it comes to limited-overs cricket.The first to embrace modern coaching methods and technological advances, the South Africans are probably more professional and businesslike than any other team in the world. Things could not be more different for their next opponents – Kenya.When the two teams line-up at the R Premadasa Stadium tomorrow, not too many people will back the Kenyans to go all the way. Of the seven times they have come up against the South Africans, the Kenyans have only been competitive once, reaching 196 after restricting South Africa to 220/7 at the Nairobi Gymkhana in September 1999. Perhaps that happened because the South Africans were a bit complacent.After finishing an optional net session at the Premadasa Stadium, South African skipper Shaun Pollock made it clear that they were not taking the game against Kenya lightly: “We can’t take Kenya lightly. There’s no doubt about that. From a confidence point of view it’s important that we go out there and play well. They came close against the West Indies and gave Australia a good game in Kenya so we’re going to have to motivate ourselves and really come out firing.”Although they are going into the game in all seriousness, South Africa are likely to miss more than one key player. Nicky Boje has been ruled out as he fractured a finger attempting to take a return catch against the West Indies. Allan Donald who has a niggle in the right heel that has bothered him off and on over the years might get a bit of rest while he can and Jonty Rhodes has an injured thumb from Morocco that has not quite healed completely.In all likelihood Dale Benkenstein will come in for Rhodes, Makhaya Ntini for Donald and Justin Ontong for Boje.After discussing the injury worries Pollock mentioned that his team had watched a part of the game between Kenya and the West Indies.”We saw the first half – Kenya’s bowling and then had to go to practice. We’ve got tapes of their batting in the team room. Maurice (Odumbe) and Steve (Tikolo) are the key men, good batters and Maurice does a job with the ball too so we’ve identified that and we’re working out our game plans for each person,” explained Pollock.That gives you an example of the kind of rigour with which the South Africans approach playing the game. When one cheeky reporter tried to suggest that the South Africans, if they won the toss, should bowl first so the game would be over as soon as possible, Pollock said quickly: “We will look at the wicket and then decide whether we bat or bowl. You can’t decide beforehand, that’s not the way we play. Kenya are the best of the non-Test playing nations; there’s no doubt about that. Some might argue that they’re even better than Bangladesh at the moment. So we’re not going to try and get it over quickly or anything. We’re going to treat it like a proper One-Day International which it is,” said the skipper.Sandeep Patil, former India international and now coach of the Kenyan team is raring to go despite the loss against the West Indies. Unlike the South Africans, the Kenyans have no injury worries at all and are fully fit.The coach highlighted how every game is important for the Kenyans: “For us, every single game is a big one, every opponent tough. It’s not enough for us to just play to our ability, we have to rise above that. We have nothing to lose,” he said.Although not quite in the class of some other teams in world cricket, the Kenyans are certainly not afraid to try their hardest.”When we take the field we have to believe in ourselves. What we discuss and plan is important and we need to do that. But at the end of the day we need to play positive cricket out in the middle and get the result,” explained Patil.When asked what he thought of his team’s performance in getting close against the West Indies, Patil shrugged. “See there really is not much to getting close. In one-day cricket the margin of victory or defeat is often just 20 runs. So you need to go out there and win, not just get close. You’re never `quite close’ or anything as people say. We have to go out with a positive mindset and play above ourselves,” he said.Although Patil was a touch understated when he spoke of his team’s chances, it is clear that his team do fancy themselves to have a good game or two. They have already shown in the past that they have it in them to take on the best.”When we get on the field we want to approach the game and be competitive. We don’t want to look silly being bowled out for 50 or less,” opined Patil.It seems to be a routine these days, and a dangerous one at that, for captains to sound a warning before matches. Such theatrics were confirmed to aggressive boxers and loud football managers bit seem to have filtered subtly into cricket as well.Pollock warned, “We know Jacques is just one good knock away from a big score. He’s been hurt by the fact that he has not been able to score as many runs as he would have liked. So people better watch out. He’ll be more determined once he does get in the groove.”Come on Jacques, let’s see what you’ve got. That’s what some competing teams will say. Kenya of course, will find out soon enough.

Midlands are giving Mashonaland a harder fight than either of the champions’ two previous opponents – with the bat, at least. After Mashonaland ran up another large total, 516 this time, Midlands fought back to finish with 197 for two wickets. Leading the way was Craig Wishart, in his first match back for the province after injury, with 111 not out.But the highlight of the day was a devastating maiden century from Andy Blignaut. Craig Evans and Tatenda Taibu laid the foundation for another day’s run-scoring by taking the total past 300 before being dismissed, for 79 and 29 respectively. Then came Blignaut’s assault, in two partnerships with Brian Murphy (36) and AJ Mackay (26 not out), normally no slouch himself but this time content to give Blignaut his head.Blignaut’s first fifty was comparatively restrained, coming up in 70 minutes off 54 balls. Then he really opened his shoulders, doubling his score in another 19 minutes and 16 balls. In total he scored 130 runs in 113 minutes, off 91 balls, and hit nine sixes and 11 fours. It was a fine display of clean hitting, most of his runs coming through powerful straight hits, one of which hit the roof of the new four-storey television building at the southern end of the ground.Raymond Price bore the brunt of his onslaught, before finally having him stumped and dismissing last man Alfred Mbwembwe for six to finish with four wickets for 136 runs. However, he only bowled 34 overs in the innings, much less than his usual quota, and must have fears of being made redundant. Pace bowler Campbell Macmillan returned the best figures of four for 97.Midlands lost Vusi Sibanda (1) early one, caught at the wicket off Gus Mackay. But Wishart came in to bat as if he had never been away. Opener Terry Duffin, whose recent form has been poor, stuck it out, with not without the occasional piece of luck or ill-judged stroke, and the pair added 180 at almost four an over for the second wicket, a new Midlands record for any wicket.Duffin’s plucky, if lucky, innings came to an end just before the close as he slashed at a loose delivery from Blignaut to be caught by wicket-keeper Taibu. Doug Marillier looked quite comfortable in scoring 12 not out by the close. Blignaut was wayward at times but bowled some fine deliveries, and should return to international cricket against Pakistan – unless off-field matters intrude.