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Western Australia made light of batting conditions that had proved tough thus far by chasing down 243 for a six-wicket win over South Australia as Cameron Bancroft and Josh Philippe struck half-centuries following a career-best 6 for 67 by Matt Kelly.Bancroft and Philippe are two batsmen who have generated much conversation for differing reasons. Bancroft has shown outstanding Shield form on return to first-class cricket after his nine-month ban, while Philippe was one of the breakout stars of the BBL and earlier this season struck his maiden first-class century against Victoria.Bancroft laid the foundations of the chase in an opening stand of 112 alongside Sam Whiteman with his third fifty-plus score in four innings. Philippe wrapped up the match with a dashing 53 off 62 balls as he dominated the unbroken fifth-wicket stand of 63 with Hilton Cartwright.Only briefly did South Australia threaten to get themselves back in the contest when both openers fell on the same score. Whiteman was caught at point and then Bancroft was bowled by Luke Robins.Their cause was not helped when Dan Worrall, who has been tipped to push for a place on the Ashes tour, limped off with a hamstring injury after one over.South Australia resumed the third day with what appeared a handy lead of 220 on a surface where both first-innings totals were low. But Travis Head fell in the opening over as Kelly completed a five-wicket before ending a last-wicket stand of 22 by removing Robins.The defeat left the Redbacks, who have had a miserable Shield season, facing the wooden spoon for the second consecutive summer with four losses from their eight matches and two games remaining.Western Australia moved to third on the table although some way adrift of the top two while Tasmania could move back above them depending on the result against Victoria.

Matthew Wade and Alex Doolan have the chance to help Tasmania derail New South Wales in their bid to make the Sheffield Shield final after making promising inroads in reply to the Blues’ first innings tally on day two at Bellerive Oval in Hobart.The visitors posted 375 on a rain-interrupted day after Sean Abbott had guided the NSW tail to the addition of 64 runs for the final two wickets, frustrating the Tigers in the process.However the Blues pacemen were stunted in their efforts to burrow into the Tasmanian batting order as Doolan and Wade, their state’s two leading run-scorers this season, worked at establishing a key partnership.Progress was slow, but it was clear that Wade and Doolan were seeking to establish a platform to be exploited on day three, with Ben McDermott and Tim Paine still to come. NSW must win outright to be sure of their place in the decider, which will be hosted by Victoria.

Victoria’s bowlers have dominated on a wet and windy day in Melbourne to put the home side firmly in control of their clash with Tasmania at the Junction Oval.Andrew Fekete and Scott Boland took three wickets each but all four of Victoria’s frontline bowlers contributed as the Tigers slumped to 8 for 234 in replay to Victoria’s first innings total of 454 bolstered by Seb Gotch’s 93Tasmania skipper Matthew Wade once again played a lone hand making 86. He has now passed 50 eight times for the Shield season but only has one century.The Tigers lost Jordan Silk early caught at third slip by Matt Short off Fekete. Alex Doolan and Charlie Wakim built steadily before Wakim also edged Fekete, Cameron White taking the sharp chance at second slip.Wade scored briskly from the moment he entered but watched problems unfold at the other end. Doolan was given out lbw in strange circumstances for 30 when he shuffled across his stumps and the ball flicked his pad before going past leg stump, but the umpire deemed he was out leg before to Boland. The big quick then delivered a brute of a short ball to Jake Doran who fended it to slip.Wade kept motoring reaching 72 at a run-a-ball but then he slowed significantly with the loss of Ben McDermott who was out chipping a simple caught and bowled chance back to Jon Holland.Wade fell to Chris Tremain after scoring just 14 runs from his last 56 deliveries as Victoria strangled the Tigers. Jarrod Freeman fought hard for 22 from 60 balls in just his second Sheffield Shield match before Fekete found his outside edge. Boland had Jackson Bird caught and bowled leaving Sam Rainbird was 25 not out at stumps with the Tigers still 220 runs behind with two days to play.Earlier, Gotch fell seven runs short of his maiden Sheffield Shield century. He reached 93 as Victoria added 78 to their overnight total. Boland and Holland fell in the first nine overs of the morning leaving Fekete to help Gotch reach three figures. The pair added 63 in 62 balls with Fekete contributing just one run before Gotch was caught in the gully off Rainbird. Riley Meredith finished with four wickets for the innings.

James Hildreth hit a stylish 93 as Somerset clinched a place in the Royal London One-Day Cup quarter-finals with a five-wicket win over Surrey at Taunton.Dean Elgar, playing against his former county, top-scored with 64 as Surrey posted 289 for 9 after losing the toss. Ben Foakes (46), Jamie Smith (40) and Ryan Patel (41 not out) were the other main contributors.Jamie Overton finished with 4 for 64 from nine overs and Craig Overton 3 for 48 from ten in a home attack that never allowed the batsmen to break loose.In reply, Somerset reached their target with more than four overs to spare, Hildreth receiving valuable support from opener Tom Banton (53) and George Bartlett (57 not out). Conor McKerr was the pick of the Surrey bowlers with 3 for 56.It was a seventh defeat in eight group matches for the visitors, who will want to forget the competition as soon as possible.Surrey made a steady start to their innings, reaching 41 after ten overs for the loss of Mark Stoneman, caught behind playing a defensive shot to Josh Davey.With the total on 52, Will Jacks pulled a catch to deep mid-wicket off Jamie Overton and departed for 17, but Elgar looked well set, moving to a half-century off 63 balls, with 3 fours and a six.Rory Burns (22) helped add 61 for the third wicket before being stumped down the leg side by Banton off the left-arm spin of Roelof van der Merwe.The key wicket of Elgar fell with the total on 129. The South African chased a short wide delivery from Craig Overton and edged through to Banton.From then on Surrey found it hard to accelerate, although Foakes was threatening when caught by Craig Overton at long-on to give brother Jamie his second wicket.Smith played some eye-catching shots, hitting four fours and a six in his 41-ball innings, which ended when he was well caught by Azhar Ali at mid-off, having top-edged at pull shot off Jamie Overton.The Somerset twins like nothing more than competing with each other. Craig sent back Jordan Clark (21) and Stuart Meaker, while Jamie added Conor McKerr to his victims as only Patel of the Surrey tail made an impact, striking 3 fours and 2 sixes.Patel then took a stunning diving catch with his left hand at backward point to dismiss Azhar Ali off McKerr in only the third over of Somerset’s reply. The same bowler bowled Peter Trego for 16 in an impressive opening five-over spell of two for 16 from the River End.Banton moved to an attractive fifty off 55 balls, but then undid all his good work by reverse sweeping Gareth Batty straight to deep point. It was a disappointing way to get out with Somerset going well on 98 for two in the 18th over.Hildreth breezed to a typical half-century off 52 balls, but Tom Abell’s contribution ended on 25 when McKerr, who had switched ends, had him caught at fine leg off a top-edged pull.It seemed that Hildreth would see Somerset to victory as he moved effortlessly into the nineties. But a lapse in concentration saw him pull a catch to wide mid-on off Jordan Clark, having hit 11 fours and a six in his 89-ball innings.It mattered little as Bartlett played with sound common sense to reach his maiden List A fifty and Lewis Gregory calmed any late nerves with two big sixes off Elgar and two more off McKerr.

Eoin Morgan has confessed that he is still not sure who will make England’s final World Cup squad.Morgan, the England captain, and his fellow selectors, Ed Smith and Trevor Bayliss, will meet on Monday to finalise the 15-man squad. They plan to announce it at 9.30am on Tuesday morning.With England having beaten Pakistan 4-0 to secure an unbeaten run of 11 ODI series (of more than one match) in succession, Morgan feels he has an embarrassment of riches available to him among the 16-men used against Pakistan and described the final decision as “extremely difficult”.But while Morgan knows there will some hugely disappointed players on Tuesday morning, he has urged them to take pride in their achievements in recent years and to remain prepared in the expectation that illness or injury could grant them a reprieve in the coming weeks. England will go into the World Cup as the No. 1-ranked side, having improved immensely over the four-year cycle since the debacle of their previous World Cup appearance in Australia and New Zealand.”I don’t know the 15,” Morgan told Sky Sports after the game in Leeds. “Every one of these guys should be proud of what we’ve achieved so far. The continuous improvement of performances makes the selection meeting extremely difficult.”But every single member of the 17-man squad here will play some role, due to the nature of injuries and illness and call-ups.”While Chris Woakes, who claimed a five-wicket haul in Leeds, has surely done enough to guarantee his own selection, he admitted he would be nervously awaiting a confirmation.ALSO READ: Dobell: The final contenders for England’s World Cup 15“Everyone will be wary of that phone call,” he said. “Even if you feel like you’ve got a good chance to being in the squad, until you hear it from selectors’ mouths, it’s not quite set in stone. You’re still probably a little bit on edge, particularly with these 16 and 17 players, because everyone has performed at some point. It’s a tricky decision for the selectors. Everyone will be looking at their phones tomorrow I suppose, if that’s when we find out.”Woakes, who revealed his post-wicket celebration was a tongue-in-cheek homage to Sir Ian Botham’s celebrations during the 1992 World Cup, also accepted, however, that the competition for places has “driven everyone forward”.”It’s certainly driven everyone forward to try and improve,” he said. “And to make sure you’re on top of your game. Whenever you get the opportunity to bowl in practice, or bat or field, you constantly feel, not like you’re on audition, but like it’s an opportunity to show your skills. It’s certainly driven everyone to try and improve and it’s certainly showed in our performances over the series.””The series went as well as we could have hoped,” Morgan agreed. “Pakistan are a strong side and they played some competitive cricket. We’ve chopped and changed our side a lot but the performance has never been compromised. That emphasises how competitive positions are as well as everyone’s hunger and determination to constantly improve their games.”

Shaun Marsh is out of the World Cup with a fractured forearm after the Australian batsmen endured a brutal net session at Old Trafford. He was struck by a ball from Pat Cummins while batting at Old Trafford two days before Australia’s final round-robin match against South Africa.Peter Handscomb will replace Marsh in Australia’s squad. Handscomb is already in England with the Australia A team that is touring the country concurrently and is set to join up with the World Cup squad on Friday.Marsh wasn’t the only batsman to suffer a blow to the arm at Australia’s training session. In the same net, Glenn Maxwell was hit on the right forearm by a short ball from Mitchell Starc. Both batsmen aborted their net sessions and went for scans immediately.Australia coach Justin Langer has confirmed that while Marsh has been ruled out, Maxwell hasn’t suffered extensive damage.”Shaun Marsh has had scans on his right forearm after being struck while practicing in the nets at training today,” Langer said. “Unfortunately, the scans have revealed Shaun has suffered a fracture to his forearm which will require surgery.”This is obviously shattering news for Shaun and the squad. Throughout this tournament, his spirit, professionalism and the way he has competed has been typically outstanding. We are right behind Shaun in his recovery and rehabilitation.”Glenn Maxwell also underwent scans after he was struck on his right forearm in the nets. The scans have cleared Glenn of any serious damage and we’ll continue to monitor him over the coming days. We are hopeful he will be fit to perform for us on Saturday against South Africa.”We have made the decision to call up Peter Handscomb to replace Shaun in our World Cup Squad of 15. Pete is a like-for-like player, in terms of batting in the middle order, and he performed very well for us during our recent tours in India and the UAE.”Handscomb narrowly missed out on a spot in Australia’s original World Cup squad, showing impressive form in the lead-up to the tournament but having to make way for the returns of Steven Smith and David Warner from their ball-tampering bans.Since the turn of the year, the wicketkeeper-batsman has scored 479 ODI runs at an average of 43.54 and a strike rate of 98.15, with three fifties and a match-winning century in a chase of 359 against India.

Harry Gurney, the English left-arm seamer, will return to the Big Bash this winter after signing up for another season at the Melbourne Renegades, where he won the title in his first year in the competition.Gurney, who played 12 white-ball internationals for England back in 2014, enjoyed a successful first season on the global T20 circuit last winter, playing for the Renegades, Quetta Gladiators in the Pakistan Super League, and Kolkata Knight Riders in the IPL.As a replacement for Usman Shinwari, he played nine games for the Renegades last season, taking ten wickets with a miserly economy rate of 7.17 despite bowling half his overs at the death.In the tournament’s dramatic final, in which the Stars collapsed from 93 for 0 to 132 for 7 in pursuit of 146, he took 1 for 20 from his four overs.Speaking to ESPNcricinfo’s Talking T20 podcast, Gurney described winning the 2018-19 edition of the tournament as a “huge career highlight”.”The Big Bash was a really special one for me,” he said. “It’s a competition I’ve admired from a distance for many years.”To get a chance just to play in it I was over the moon with, so to go over there, play a key role, win a Man-of-the-Match award, and perform consistently and go on and win that trophy was a huge career highlight for me.”I [usually] bowled one over in the Powerplay, one in the middle, and two at the death, and bowled really well at the death, going at sevens. That’s sort of where I’ve built my reputation.”Gurney, 32, said that he is at the stage of his career where team success comes before individual targets.”At my age, it’s just about winning trophies – those are the best days of your life, so you want to recreate that as much as you can while you’re still playing. Your focus becomes more team-based once you become more assured of your spot in the side.”Early on in your career, you’re focused on yourself and making your way in the game, you want to go on and play for England. Once you become a bit old and decrepit like me, you just want to win trophies really.”The regular season in this year’s Big Bash has been condensed from 54 days to 42, in part to attract more high-profile overseas players who stay for the duration of the competition.Last season, several teams used three or four overseas players over the course of the competition, with two players splitting one spot depending on their availability. Competition organisers will hope that Gurney’s deal – which lasts the whole tournament – is a sign of things to come.

Gloucestershire achieved their first mission by taking the game into the final day after Sussex threatened to complete a notable success inside three days. Once the floodlights were switched on at around 5.30 it was only a matter of time before umpires Steve O’Shaughnessy and Ben Debenham halted proceedings because of bad light.Thoughts of an extra half hour ended at that point, but Ryan Higgins and Jack Taylor will resume their seventh-wicket stand in the morning with thought of survival first, second and third, target-setting a very distant fourth. Without playing exceptional or exciting cricket, Sussex have taken a grip and tightened it; they can expect to finish this round of games at least one place up, in fifth.After play began an hour behind schedule, they struck 57 more runs in 50 minutes to establish a lead of 170 on first innings. An emerging consensus suggests that while survival on the increasingly slow pitch should be relatively straightforward, playing strokes is problematic. That explains why so many Gloucestershire batmen trudged off in self-reproach through the afternoon.At least in Higgins they have the best No.7 in the country with four 2019 Championship hundreds to his name. “I think we are in a deep hole, but I am going to fight tomorrow with ‘Jacko’ to try to get us out of it,” he said. “We have been behind the eight-ball from the first day, but we have got draws out of nowhere here before.”Of all the county grounds, Bristol most needs the sun to show off its best. The flats at the Ashley Down Road end are cream and chrome with off-white blinds, the bucket seats are rows of grey, as are the floodlight pylons, and the austere building behind them to the right is a mix of grey, brown and fawn stone, like the gravel at the bottom of a fish tank. Thank goodness for the oak trees.As the clouds lifted after lunch it did look more of a picture – albeit not from the Fauvist school – and with any swing telegraphed from the hand, conditions were as good as they have been for batting. James Bracey and Chris Dent repelled the new ball so that Gloucester needed nothing more than patience, concentration and a modicum of good fortune for the afternoon ahead.Instead of frustrating the bowlers they offered too much charity. David Wiese was the first to prosper when Bracey tried to force a ball he could have left and edged behind. He was still chastising himself the other side of the rope. Gareth Roderick was more culpable still in Wiese’s next over with an elegant waft off his legs that was Gower-like in all but its destination, straight to deep square leg.Dent seemed the man for the situation. Compact and well-organised, he averages over fifty for the season and a number of team mates recently took to Twitter to offer him as an England candidate. Prising him from the crease can be as hard as persuading Ken Dodd to leave the stage. He impressed here in his ability to punish the bad ball, completing 1,000 runs for the fourth season on 41.But Miles Hammond top-edged a pull against the slow left-arm of Delray Rawlins and Dent followed three overs later tickling an innocuous ball from George Garton that he followed down the leg side. His 72 is the highest individual score for either side so far. Once again, a batsman wandered off in self-disgust while the converging Sussex players looked as surprised as they were gleeful.Ben Brown was happy to employ some funky fielding positions to account for the low, slow surface. The captain could take much credit when Tom Smith duly clipped Ollie Robinson to short midwicket. Robinson struck again with an lbw decision against Ben Charlesworth, the youngster having been missed twice already off Luke Wells, but Higgins remained dutifully robust.Not for the first time, the depth of the Sussex batting held them in proper stead. Garton, at ten, wants to be considered an all-rounder while last man Robinson has a hundred to his name. “A number of times this season the bottom five have taken the game away from the opposition,” Wiese said. “If you had offered us the close-of-play position at the start of the morning, we’d have taken it.”Sussex might have been surprised that David Payne did not enter the Gloucester attack until nine overs were bowled. Smith, the spinner, rushed through at the Ashley Down Road end and fielders chased boundaries over the rope as though speeding up an over rate of -4 was a priority. Yet Shannon Gabriel ambled through in tandem, continuing to no-ball and struggle for length.He appeared thoroughly disconsolate as he took his sweater and walked off after four overs costing 27 runs, suffering trouble with his left leg. Payne struck in his first over when Will Beer stood on his wicket, but Gloucester needed excellent catches from Charlesworth and Jack Taylor to end the innings and deny Sussex full bonus points. They had little else to cheer.

Incisive opening spells from Kane Richardson and Joe Mennie helped South Australia to a bonus-point five-wicket win over New South Wales at Allan Border Field.The new-ball duo made the most of the helpful bowling conditions early after captain Jake Lehmann won the toss, taking three wickets each to dismantle the New South Wales top order.They slumped to 5 for 27 in the seventh over and could only manage to post 173. South Australia veteran Tom Cooper steered the chase with a patient, unbeaten half-century to ensure they never lost wickets in clumps. They won with 11 overs to spare to secure the bonus point and leave New South Wales winless after two matches.The toss was vital given the overhead conditions and the ball duly darted around in the first hour of play and made life difficult for the batsmen. But four of the first five players dismissed were guilty of pushing with hard hands well in front of their front pads.Jack Edwards and Daniel Hughes both inside-edged booming drives, Moises Henriques was pinned lbw by a hooping inswinger, Kurtis Patterson nicked a peach from Mennie and Nick Bertus chopped on defending off the back foot.Peter Nevill and Daniel Sams were forced to rebuild and produced 54-run stand, but scoring with fluency was difficult. Arjun Nair and Sean Abbott provided handy contributions down the order however New South Wales were bowled out inside 39 overs.The chase was not as simple as it appeared as the sideways movement gave way to some variable pace and bounce.Callum Ferguson got away to a brisk start striking four boundaries in 22 before edging Abbott to slip. Alex Carey, promoted to open in the absence of the injured Jake Weatherald, looked in complete control cruising to 36 before feathering an under edge flailing at a wide delivery.Lehmann and Cooper broke the back of the chase from there before Lehmann was undone by some extra bounce from Nair to be caught behind for 37. There were some late wobbles with miscues from Harry Nielsen and Alex Ross keeping, but Cooper closed out the contest by reaching his second straight half-century.

A yawning victory for Australia, a pugilistic century for David Warner, Steven Smith not even required to bat? Do not adjust your browsers.Aaron Finch’s team set down a brutal marker for the start of their 12-month run to next year’s Twenty20 World Cup by swatting Sri Lanka aside with their highest-ever total on home soil and fourth highest overall, as the captain and a promoted Glenn Maxwell provided the perfect complement to Warner’s triumphant return home after a nightmarish tour of England.Smith, the single biggest reason for Australia’s Ashes retention, was listed to bat at No. 3 but found himself demoted below Maxwell and Ashton Turner in recognition of their relative hitting power. But on a day where the bowlers followed up by holding the decidedly underwhelming visitors for a mere 9 for 99, in the process securing the home side’s biggest ever T20I winning margin and Sri Lanka’s biggest ever T20I defeat, the lack of reliance upon Smith augured well for the rest of Australia’s summer.Warner’s century was surprisingly his first in T20Is, remarkable given his very first innings for Australia had been 89 against South Africa at the MCG more than a decade ago. In control of proceedings from the very start, he reached or cleared the boundary to all parts of Adelaide Oval, delighting a crowd of 16,268 who responded by giving Warner a consistently warm reception following his running battle with persistent booing and abuse in England.Little less significant were the scene-setting innings of Finch – who had not passed 28 in a T20I since July 2018 – and the murderous finishing of Maxwell, leaving Sri Lanka’s captain Lasith Malinga with virtually nowhere to turn to for economy. The most punishment was reserved for Kasun Rajitha. Sri Lanka’s most parsimonious bowler in their recent, unexpected triumph in Pakistan, Rajitha was left wincing at the most expensive T20I figures, an eye-watering 4-0-75-0.He will wonder, in years to come, how Sri Lanka came to be bowling first on what quickly flattened out into a perfect batting track – Malinga electing to send the Australians in on the basis that the tourists did not know what to expect from Adelaide’s drop-in pitch. Its even covering of straw-coloured grass should perhaps have been a giveaway, and after a handful of early plays and misses, Finch and Warner were able to punch their way to the off and leg side boundaries with something approaching impunity.Glenn Maxwell brought out all the shots•AFP

They were aided by some loose Sri Lankan bowling, summed up by how Rajitha offered Warner a wide no-ball that was sent scurrying to the backward point boundary and then a free-hit of obliging line and length that was smote well and truly into the western stands. None for 57 from the powerplay, strong as it looked for Australia, proved to be only a foretaste of the carnage to follow in a temperate afternoon.Finch and then Warner took turns to dominate in an opening stand worth 122 from 65 balls, including 112 from the first 10 overs of the innings. Finch may have been a tad frustrated to see his innings ended at 64 by a top edge to Lakshan Sandakan, but there was soon the reward of seeing Maxwell mix power with invention in the manner that has always made him one of the world’s most compulsively watchable cricketers.All up, no fewer than eight of the innings’ 20 overs went for more than 12 runs, a ledger that thrust Australia inevitably to the tallest tally of all their T20I matches at home, surpassing the 221 fetched against England at the SCG as far back as January 2007.Warner, having lost Maxwell after a union worth 107 from a mere 52 balls, scrounged a single from the final ball of the innings to reach three figures and celebrate in his customary, leaping manner. Amid all the scoring, some credit was due to Nuwan Pradeep’s figures of 0 for 28 from four solid overs.So overpowering was the Australian batting display that Sri Lanka always looked unlikely to get close to their target. Nevertheless, the procession of visiting batsmen was rapid, as Mitchell Starc, Kane Richardson, Pat Cummins, Ashton Agar and Adam Zampa all enjoyed their work. Of particular interest to Australia’s planners was Cummins’ comfort bowling first-change, whereupon he claimed two victims in as many balls, and the considerable economy of Agar, who mixed his pace and lengths handily against batsmen determined to dance down to him.Otherwise, though, this was a day for Warner, Finch and Maxwell, and the rare chance for Smith to experience a quiet, uneventful afternoon at the cricket.