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Northamptonshire 219 and 55 for 2 (Vasconcelos 22, Higgins 2-11) trail Middlesex 277 (Higgins 64*, Stoneman 51, Keogh 3-52) by 3 runsRyan Higgins displayed his all-round prowess on day two of Middlesex’s LV= Insurance County Championship Division One basement battle with visitors Northamptonshire at Merchant Taylors’ School.Higgins, in his second spell with the tenants of Lord’s, made 64 not out, his sixth half-century of the season, to steer the hosts from the perils of 127-5 to only their second batting bonus point of the campaign and a total of 277 – a first innings lead of 58. Mark Stoneman was Middlesex’s other half-centurion with 51, while Max Holden made 41. Rob Keogh impressed with his off-spin for Northamptonshire, returning three for 53, while Ben Sanderson took three for 76.Not content with his batting efforts, Harare-born Higgins then removed both Ricardo Vasconcelos and Justin Broad when Northamptonshire batted again, the visitors almost achieving parity by the close on 55-2, three runs behind.While Northamptonshire relied on stoic defence for their score on day one, Middlesex adopted more of a risk-and-reward approach, playing more shots, rotating the strike and, wherever possible, turning ones into twos to put pressure on the fielders. In the end, it brought some reward, though on a pitch of already variable bounce it remains to be seen whether a 58-run lead will be sufficient for a side who have to bat last.Stoneman signalled Middlesex’s more aggressive intent with two fours from one Jack White over before striking the seamer back over his head for six.Nightwatchman Ethan Bamber kept Stoneman company through the first seven overs, taking a little more of the shine off the Kookaburra ball before Sanderson uprooted his middle stump.Rob Keogh picked up three wickets•Getty Images

It would be the visitors’ last success for some time as Stoneman and fellow former England opener Sam Robson forged a half-century stand at not far shy of a run a ball. Stoneman twice savagely cut Sanderson to the fence at point while Robson found the cover boundary twice with dreamy drives.However, the right-handed Robson, like many in the match before him, never looked set and it was no surprise when White found the edge of his bat to give wicketkeeper McManus the first of his four victims behind the stumps.Stoneman became the first batter in the match to reach 50 only to fall in White’s next over when a shortish ball didn’t get up high enough for his attempted pull shot and instead picked out the left-hander’s middle stump. And when Pieter Malan and John Simpson departed to Sanderson and Tom Taylor, respectively, either side of the lunch interval Middlesex looked set for the batting equivalent of ‘Groundhog Day.’It was now Higgins made his entrance, promptly pulling his first ball through square leg for four, but thereafter it was Max Holden who made the running in their stand of 64, cutting and driving the seamers before greeting spinner Keogh with a reverse sweep for another boundary. Again though, just as the former England U19 skipper appeared set, Keogh got one through his defences to trap him on the crease.Josh De Caires didn’t stay long and when Stephen Eskinazi, batting at nine because of the finger injury sustained on day one, edged into the hands of Gay in the gully, Middlesex’s lead was a mere 11.Higgins, though, went through to a controlled 50 from 85 balls with six fours and, with the help of skipper Toby Roland-Jones, steered the hosts to that second batting point of the campaign, a landmark greeted with loud, if a little ironic applause from the Middlesex faithful.The eventual lead of 58, while not massive, looked useful, and Higgins struck in his first over to cut short a blossoming Ricardo Vasconcelos effort on 22.Broad soon followed when he edged through to Simpson, who stood up to the stumps to stop the batter standing out of his crease to negate the prospect of being leg before.

Kent 171 and 55 for 1 (Denly 29*, Compton 17*) trail Warwickshire 549 for 7 dec (Yates 228, Maxwell 81) by 323 runsA double-century from Rob Yates put Warwickshire in a commanding position after day two of their LV= Insurance County Championship game with Kent at Canterbury.The visitors declared their first innings on 549 for seven, a lead of 378, before reducing Kent to 55 for one at stumps.Yates hit his highest first-class score of 228 not out from 421 balls, with 23 fours and a six, having batted for nearly nine hours. Australia’s Glenn Maxwell made 81 in his first championship appearance for four years and Henry Brookes was unbeaten on 52 as the visitors dominated throughout.Chris Rushworth bowled Tawanda Muyeye early in Kent’s second innings and although Ben Compton and Joe Denly survived till the close, the hosts are still 323 behind with two days remaining.Warwickshire began the day on 155 for two and they’d nudged into a three-run lead when Sam Hain edged Arshdeep Singh and fell to a diving catch by Jordan Cox for 32.Jacob Bethell immediately went on the attack, clubbing Hamid Qadri for a six that flew into the gardens on the Old Dover Road side of the ground. The ball was lost, somewhere in the vicinity of a dead pigeon it had apparently hit.Kent’s hopes were looking nearly as lifeless when Jack Leaning briefly revived them with two wickets in five balls. Bethell was out for 31, caught by a back-pedalling Arshdeep at deep mid-on for 31 and Ed Barnard went for a four-ball duck, narrowly surviving an lbw shout off the third ball he faced before getting caught behind.This spasm of hope for the home side quickly subsided as Yates and Maxwell put on a stand of 124. The former reached three figures when he cut Arshdeep to third man and the lead was exactly 100 at lunch.Maxwell looked set for a hundred, but he was caught behind chasing a wide delivery from Matt Quinn, though with the lead already past the 200 mark there was little celebration either in the middle or on the boundary.The most dramatic moment of the afternoon session came when Yates hit Qadri for a six that went so far over the bowler’s head that it ended up smashing a glass panel on the balcony of the Kent dressing-room.Yates cruised past his previous highest score of 141 with a straight-driven four off Grant Stewart and it was 442 for six at tea.Michael Burgess was subsequently out for 42, caught off Quinn by Harry Finch at backward point but Yates survived a major scare when he was on 199, chipping a ball from Qadri just out of reach of three fielders, before he drove the next ball through the covers to pass 200.The declaration came as soon as Brookes had creamed Leaning for six to reach his half-century, leaving Kent with 14 overs to survive under increasingly ashen skies.Muyeye lasted just five balls before Rushworth sent his off stump flying and although Denly and Compton made it to the close on 29 and 17 respectively, Kent will need something approaching a miracle over the next two days to avoid a damaging defeat.

Glenn Maxwell says he is going to have to carefully manage his preparation ahead of the ODI World Cup and may not play all of the lead-in series against India after he was ruled out of the recent T20I series in South Africa due to soreness in his ankle stemming from his previously broken leg.Maxwell was only in South Africa for four days after experiencing soreness in his left ankle while running a lap at his first training session. It is the same leg that he, in his own words, “snapped in half” in a freak accident last November. He has screws still in the ankle following surgery but this soreness stemmed from a different spot to previous pain he has experienced.Related

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Speaking at the BBL overseas draft on Sunday night where he was part of Melbourne Stars’ list team, Maxwell confirmed that he had had a cortisone injection in the ankle and revealed that he was unsure how much of the India series he will play as he and the Cricket Australia strength and conditioning team try to map out a program to have him fully fit for the World Cup.”I still want to play some part of that India series,” Maxwell said. “But I’m not feeling any pressure on it. The selectors and the staff have been brilliant with me as well. They don’t want to put too much pressure on me to sort of set that date because they know they’ve got a bit of extra time before the World Cup. So instead of rushing it and probably putting myself a week or two behind, being able to give myself extra time and make sure we get through the whole tournament.”CA’s medical took a conservative approach by ruling him out of the T20I series in South Africa, which Australia wrapped up 3-0 on Sunday, given he was already set to miss the five ODIs that start on Thursday due to the impending birth of his first child.Maxwell is expected to be named in Australia’s initial 15-player World Cup squad on Wednesday, although there are a number of other injury concerns including Mitchell Starc (groin), Steven Smith (wrist), Pat Cummins (wrist) and Ashton Agar (calf) heading into the tournament. Australia do not have to finalise the squad until September 28, after the three matches against India.Maxwell will meet with CA’s medical team on Monday to plan out the next couple of weeks leading into flying to India, after the flight to South Africa and a compromised lead-in led to the soreness he experienced.”I don’t think I could have predicted how sore I was going to be once I got to South Africa,” he said. “But it was one of those things. Even when I went to train that day, I still felt fine. There was nothing wrong. Something just got impinged. I think one of the tendons around my ankle was a little bit inflamed, there’s a bit of swelling, so it kept on catching which meant it just gave me a bit of pain. Hopefully, the cortisone takes care of that and I can get back up and running to where I was just before I went to South Africa.”We’ve probably just got to be a bit smarter going forward. Making sure that my preparation is a bit more managed, I think leading into a flight like that. I’m already back in the gym, so I’ll probably get back into full training probably this week, so it won’t be a long turnaround. It’s just knowing that I’m not over the hurdle of the original injury yet.”Complicating matters further is the birth of his first child. Maxwell is aware that he faces a delicate balancing act on all fronts over the coming weeks.”It’s going to be a busy fortnight,” Maxwell said. “I suppose I’m trying to manage my program and I’ll sit down with the strength conditioning crew tomorrow and nut out of a genuine plan but obviously there’s some distractions as well.”I’m trying to manage obviously a pretty special time my life with a pretty big time my career, trying to manage those two and work out the balance.”Glenn Maxwell has played regular cricket since return from his injury•Getty Images

Maxwell has had a lot of cricket this year since returning from injury in February. He has played 28 T20 matches in the IPL and the Blast and two first-class games for Victoria and Warwickshire, but he has only managed one 50-over match in that time, in part due to the schedule. He was withdrawn from the Hundred prior to the issue in South Africa to rest ahead of the World Cup.He remains a vital part of Australia’s World Cup plans with his offspin especially important in India as Australia do not have a lot of spin-bowling allrounders in their squad. Smith and Travis Head are capable but neither have done much bowling in recent ODI’s. Head has bowled in just four of his last 20 ODIs, and only 13 overs in total in that time, while Smith has bowled just five overs in his last 73 ODIs. Marnus Labuschagne has been omitted from the initial 18-man World Cup squad although he is in the squad for the South Africa ODIs as Smith’s injury replacement.Australia’s selectors have called up Tim David to the South Africa ODI series to give him some exposure in case Maxwell is not fit for the World Cup. David can’t replace Maxwell’s allround skill but Maxwell believes he can translate his T20 form into the ODI format.”He’s a wonderful addition,” Maxwell said. “I think the way he batted in that first [T20I against South Africa], showed great maturity, and a great level head and I think any time you bring a player in who’s in good form, he’s got a history of great power hitting at the back end, but what we probably haven’t seen a lot on the international stage from Tim is that style of play where he is able to get through a tough time. He’s a very good player of spin. He bats well in India. It doesn’t surprise me that he’s been added to that squad.”

Big Picture

Even in a tournament with nine group-stage matches which allows room for a slip up or two, you don’t want to be 0-3 early in the competition. But that’s exactly the situation which will confront one of Australia and Sri Lanka after they face off in Lucknow in what already shapes as a contest to retain realistic semi-final hopes. It has been a tough start for both sides, but two points in this fixture will revive belief that they can still challenge for the top four.The struggles of Australia, with their World Cup pedigree, are creating headlines. They were handed a demanding start to the tournament by facing hosts India and a confident South Africa, but they have been significantly off the pace in all three disciplines. Sri Lanka have managed to put runs on the board – more than 300 both against South Africa and Pakistan – but their problem has been that they have conceded runs at an even higher rate: 773 from 98.2 overs in two games at 7.86 runs an over, meaning even Kusal Mendis’ sparkling century against Pakistan wasn’t enough.To add to their problems, they have lost captain Dasun Shanaka to a tournament-ending injury, which means Mendis will now take on the captaincy. However, even though the bowlers have been put to the sword, the spinners will fancy their chances of having an impact against the Australians.Related

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• Is Kusal Mendis finally going to be Sri Lanka's Mr Consistent?

• Finch: Australia's body language 'quite flat' at the moment

• Chamika Karunaratne replaces injured Dasun Shanaka in SL squad

In what was quite an un-Australian move, they made two changes after just one match. The omission of Cameron Green was largely expected against South Africa, but the axing of Alex Carey was a major talking point even if his form had been patchy. They are still competing with a 14-player squad, with Travis Head yet to rejoin the group, and it’s only Sean Abbott who has yet to feature.The batting is becoming a concern with no one yet to reach a half century – Australia currently have the lowest batting average of any team in the tournament at 18.80, and have failed to reach 200 in the first two outings.In ODIs, the most recent meetings between these teams came in mid-2022 in a five-match series, when Sri Lanka had prevailed 3-2.Kusal Mendis now has captaincy added to his workload•AFP via Getty Images

Form guide

Australia LLWLL
Sri Lanka LLLWL

In the spotlight: Adam Zampa and Kusal Mendis

Australia gambled in their final squad by not replacing Ashton Agar with a like-for-like player, and while Glenn Maxwell has held up his end of the bargain with his part-time offspin, their problems have been compounded by a rare loss of form for Adam Zampa. Since taking 4 for 48 in Bloemfontein, he has claimed 7 for 430 with an economy of 7.41 in six games. Zampa battled niggling injuries leading into the tournament, while former captain Aaron Finch said he also has a hip problem, and is currently struggling to either take wickets or keep the economy rate down.”Don’t think he’s bowled as much in the lead up as he would have in the past,” Finch told ESPNcricinfo. “He’s had neck and shoulder issues. I know he’s got a bit of a hip niggle at the moment. Whether that’s just affecting him technically slightly – legspin bowling is not my expertise – but he didn’t bowl [at] his absolute best against India. But you are also bowling against the best players in the world. I think back to the first over he bowled, and he got cut for two boundaries. One of them was a good ball – might have hit the top of off stump to KL [Rahu] – and it slides past backward point for four. Then you are on the back foot because your best ball has been hit for four. You start overthinking it at times and you might stray away from your No. 1 plan.”On the flip side, Kusal Mendis is in spectacular form. If you include his warm-up innings against Afghanistan, he has made 356 runs in his last three knocks, with his 122 off 77 balls against Pakistan a career-best in ODIs. But the question will be whether he can sustain such a free-flowing nature with the additional burden of captaincy, adding to an extensive workload with him also being the wicketkeeper. Mendis has a good one-day record against Australia, averaging 50.33 from 11 innings.There is pressure on the big three quicks to lift their game and make early inroads•BCCI

Team news: Australia likely unchanged; Sri Lanka need reinforcements

Australia are likely to be unchanged, which means Josh Inglis will retain the keeping gloves, but there is pressure on the big three quicks to lift their game and make early inroads. There have previously been issues with Marcus Stoinis playing back-to-back matches but he only bowled two overs against South Africa, so that shouldn’t be a factor.Australia (probable): 1 David Warner, 2 Mitchell Marsh, 3 Steven Smith, 4 Marnus Labuschagne, 5 Josh Inglis (wk), 6 Glenn Maxwell, 7 Marcus Stoinis, 8 Mitchell Starc, 9 Pat Cummins (capt), 10 Adam Zampa, 11 Josh HazlewoodShanaka has been ruled out of the tournament, replaced by Chamika Karunaratne, a bustling seam bowler and a hard-hitting lower-order bat, who could come straight into the mix. They may also be without slingy fast bowler Matheesha Pathirana, who has a right shoulder problem and is “under observation” according to the team manager.Sri Lanka (probable): 1 Pathum Nissanka, 2 Kusal Perera, 3 Kusal Mendis (capt, wk), 4 Sadeera Samarawickrama, 5 Charith Asalanka, 6 Dhananjaya de Silva, 7 Dunith Wellalage, 8 Chamika Karunaratne, 9 Maheesh Theekshana, 10 Kasun Rajitha, 11 Dilshan Madushanka

Pitch and conditions

The surface at the Ekana Stadium had got trickier as the match wore on when Australia faced South Africa, and it had certainly nipped around for the quicks in the second half. That may have a bearing on what the captain who wins the toss decides to do. However, Pat Cummins and Shanaka, before his injury, had won both their tosses, done different things each time, and watched their team get beaten on each occasion. So they may just want to leave it to the other to decide. Meanwhile, it’s set to be another hot day in Lucknow.

Stats and trivia

• Sri Lanka have not beaten Australia in seven attempts at an ODI World Cup since they claimed the title in 1996.
• Don’t be surprised to see Dhananjaya de Silva given an early bowled against David Warner: Dhananjaya has dismissed Warner four times in ODIs, the most he has claimed any batter.
• Australia have caught barely half their chances in the first two matches: eight from 14. It gives them the lowest catch percentage of all the teams so far at this World Cup.

Quotes

“A lot of Australian teams, when they’re backed into a corner, play their best cricket. We find ourselves in a corner early on in this tournament, but we’ve got to come out and put in a really good performance against Sri Lanka.”

Muneeba Ali’s 49-ball 61, and her 106-run partnership with Bismah Maroof for the second wicket, laid the platform for Pakistan to end the T20I leg of their tour of Bangladesh with a consolation win. The partnership – Pakistan’s highest for the second wicket in Women’s T20Is – was the sole passage of play where bat dominated ball in a low-scoring third T20I, which ended with Pakistan, defending a total of 132, winning by 31 runs.Maroof joined Muneeba in the second over of the match, after Pakistan had been sent in, and the pair controlled the innings for the next 14.4 overs, going at just over 7.2 an over. Maroof played second fiddle, scoring 48 off 49 balls with only two fours, while Muneeba took on the bowling, hitting eight fours and striking at over 120.Pakistan seemed poised for a big finish at 109 for 1 after 16 overs, but the wicket of Muneeba brought Bangladesh into the game: the last four overs brought just 23 runs, with Fariha Trisna picking up 2 for 14 across the 18th and 20th overs and Nahida Akter 1 for 9 across the 17th and 19th.Bangladesh’s response contained the second-highest partnership of the match: 33 for the second wicket between Shamima Sultana and Sobhana Mostary. It put Bangladesh in a reasonable position at 38 for 1 in the seventh over, but the chase lost all momentum after Nashra Sandhu broke the stand, with the last 13.3 overs only bringing 63 runs for the cost of eight wickets.Sadia Iqbal and Aliya Riaz picked up two wickets apiece, while Sandhu (3-0-8-1) and Nida Dar (3-1-9-1) led the way in curtailing Bangladesh’s run flow. Shamima (26 off 38) was the only Bangladesh batter to pass 20.

Zimbabwe will tour Sri Lanka for a series of three ODIs and three T20Is in January. It will be the first bilateral T20I series featuring the two teams in Sri Lanka, and also the first ODI series between them in the island since January 2022.Sri Lanka are currently No. 7 in the ICC ODI team rankings, while Zimbabwe, who have failed to qualify for the last two World Cups in the format, are currently at No. 11. In T20Is, Sri Lanka are eighth, while Zimbabwe are in 13th place, and have also missed out on qualification for the 2024 T20 World Cup after finishing behind Namibia and Uganda in the qualifiers, played in Namibia recently.

Zimbabwe tour of Sri Lanka

Jan 6: 1st ODI
Jan 8: 2nd ODI
Jan 11: 3rd ODI
Jan 14: 1st T20I
Jan 16: 2nd T20I
Jan 18: 3rd T20I

Keeping the World Cup in mind, this will be useful game time for the Sri Lankans, who also have T20I series lined up against Afghanistan (three games, at home) and Bangladesh (three games, away) in early 2024. The World Cup will be played in the Caribbean and the USA in June.This year, when the focus was more on ODIs because of the 50-over World Cup, Sri Lanka have played just six T20Is, winning two (both against Ireland at home) and losing four (in New Zealand, and against Pakistan at home).The tour will kick off with the ODIs, to be played on January 6, 8 and 11, and will be followed by the T20Is, to be played on January 14, 16 and 18. All the matches will be played at Colombo’s R Premadasa Stadium.The games had initially been pencilled in to take place in Dambulla and Kandy, however with the Under-19 World Cup having been shifted to South Africa, the option to host in Colombo had opened up.

Stuart Broad, who retired in July as England’s second-highest wicket-taker, has been awarded a CBE in the New Year’s honours list. Marcus Trescothick, England men’s batting coach, receives an OBE.Broad, 37, called time on his storied career at the conclusion of the men’s Ashes, signing off with a wicket with his final ball to seal victory over Australia at The Oval – having also hit the last delivery he faced for six.His final tally of 604 Test wickets is second only to James Anderson for England and fifth overall. Broad also took 178 wickets in ODIs and 65 in T20I cricket, as well as scoring more than 4000 runs.”All I ever wanted to do was play cricket, and to have had the career that I was able to enjoy and to receive honours like this is incredibly special,” Broad said. “I’m very proud that my contributions to cricket have been recognised, and it means a lot to me and my family.”Trescothick, 48, scored more than 10,000 runs for England but has been recognised for his work as an ambassador for mental health, having helped to open up conversations in the game by documenting his own struggles since stepping away from international cricket in 2006.”It’s a huge honour to have been awarded an OBE,” he said. “I was delighted in 2005 when we were recognised as a team with MBEs but this is very special. I’ve always wanted to let people know my story and to try and raise awareness to help anyone who may be struggling with poor mental health alongside the Professional Cricketers’ Association, so recognition of that work means a lot.”Richard Thompson, ECB chair, said: “As a whole game we’re absolutely delighted to see Stuart and Marcus honoured in this way.”They have been fantastic ambassadors for cricket for many years, and they have played a major role in helping build the profile of our game and in turn bringing more people into our sport.”Stuart has long been an inspirational figure and will be remembered as a true great of English cricket, and the spectacular nature of his retirement this summer was the perfect farewell.”It’s also so fitting that Marcus has now been recognised both for his achievements on the field and for his bravery in talking so honestly about his own mental health challenges which has helped so many people.”I would also like to pay tribute to all those hard-working people who have been honoured for their work in cricket. I am delighted to be able to share with them my warmest congratulations, on behalf of everyone in our game.”

Melbourne Stars wicketkeeper Sam Harper was taken to hospital via ambulance after a nasty blow to the head at training but scans have cleared him of a fracture despite suffering a laceration to his chin and neck.Harper was training with the Stars squad at the MCG on Friday ahead of Saturday’s clash against Sydney Sixers when he was struck in the head while batting in the nets.While attempting to play a ramp shot he was hit on the chin with the ball lodging under the grill of his helmet, causing a severe laceration near his throat. Harper was immediately attended to by the Stars medical team to control the bleeding.An ambulance was called but he was conscious, breathing and stable when he was taken to hospital for further treatment. He remained there overnight and will be monitored in the coming days despite scans clearing him of any fracture or soft tissue damage to his jaw or neck.The training session was immediately called off. Harper’s situation will be treated with caution given his history of concussions. He suffered a heavy concussion in the BBL in January 2020 when he collided with Hobart Hurricanes bowler Nathan Ellis and had to be taken to hospital. He was also hospitalised with concussion in 2017 when he was hit by a bat while keeping during a Sheffield Shield game.Harper will be unable to play tomorrow night and Stars do not have a back-up wicketkeeper on their list. Former Stars player and Victoria limited-overs captain Peter Handscomb has been called in at short notice as he does not have a BBL contract and was set to play grade cricket in Melbourne tomorrow for his club side St Kilda.He had been named captain of the Cricket Australia XI that is set to play a three-day game against West Indies in Adelaide starting on Tuesday but may need to be replaced for that game as Stars made him for all of the remaining three games of the home and away season and possibly finals, depending on Harper’s recovery.Handscomb has kept for Australia in T20Is and he played 51 BBL matches for Stars between 2012 and 2020 before playing two seasons at Hobart Hurricanes. He played three games for Melbourne Renegades last season as a replacement player, having not been contracted.

New Zealand and Chennai Super Kings wicketkeeper-batter Devon Conway has been ruled out of the entire IPL 2024 with injury. CSK have added England fast bowler Richard Gleeson to their squad as his replacement.Conway had suffered a fracture in the joint of his left thumb during the second T20I against Australia in Auckland in February. He subsequently underwent surgery and CSK were originally hopeful of having Conway back in May for the second half of the IPL, but he has now been sidelined from the whole season.Conway was central to CSK winning the IPL title in 2023, scoring 672 runs in 15 innings at an average of 51.69 and strike rate of just under 140. Forty-seven of those runs came in a rain-hit three-day T20 final against Gujarat Titans in Ahmedabad, where Conway also won the Player-of-the-Match award.Conway’s injury-enforced absence leaves Aravelly Avanish, the India Under-19 wicketkeeper, as the only back-up to MS Dhoni at CSK.