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Armed robbers raided Newlands on Friday, smashing the glass doors of multiple suites at the Cape Town stadium and making away with TVs, liquor and other items. This was the third time since 2015 that the ground had been hit by robbers, according to a Western Province Cricket Association (WPCA) release.The raid began shortly after midnight, according to the WPCA, when a woman approached security personnel at Gate A and asked for directions to a nearby church. She returned five minutes later, only this time she was joined by three accomplices who jumped the fences, apart from “more than 15 other men”, some of whom had guns. They forced the security officials to provide them keys to the Presidential Suite.The raid lasted less than an hour, and ended with the robbers making away with the stolen goods in three vehicles.”The South African Police Services are busy with an extensive investigation into the event and we will also reassess our security measures, including the possibility of having more cameras installed,” the WPCA statement said.”As an Association we are disturbed by the robbery and will do our utmost with the help of the South African Police Services to get to the bottom of this and try and prevent a reoccurrence of this type of incident. We will seriously look within our budgetary constraints to improve our security situation at the stadium.”Whilst it is truly appalling for this type of robbery to take place at our iconic cricket stadium where we have enjoyed some wonderful memories this past season, we are thankful that the security guard caught up in this crime was unharmed. He has been offered the necessary counselling in order to help him recover from this ordeal.”

Wayne Parnell has been included in Kent’s squad for Friday’s Royal London match against Sussex despite a health scare earlier this week.Parnell, the South African seamer who is with the club on a short-term stint as an overseas player, left the pitch feeling unwell after bowling four overs during Tuesday’s match against Somerset. He reported an elevated heart rate and feeling light-headed.While he was keen to return to the action after a few minutes, the club’s medical team insisted he sit out the remainder of the game as a precaution. Parnell was hospitalised in 2013 after complaining of similar symptoms while playing for South Africa A against India A. Subsequent tests revealed no long-term problem, with the issue instead put down to a virus.He did not go to hospital on Tuesday and instead travelled back to Kent on the team bus at the end of the game.He saw a doctor on Wednesday and underwent a series of basic tests. The club insist that some reports of his condition have been “greatly exaggerated” and suggested that they would not have named him in the squad for Friday’s game if there was any risk to his welfare.Cricket South Africa have been kept fully informed of Parnell’s condition and condoned his return to action.It is not certain he will play on Friday, though. He will undergo a fitness test ahead of the game before any final decision is made.

Northamptonshire have given Doug Bracewell a further opportunity to rehabilitate his cricketing career after a troubled year that included a third drink-driving offence and identified him as one of cricket’s most untamed characters.Bracewell’s career is on the up again after he was restored to the New Zealand side for an ODI against West Indies in Whangarei in December, seeking to put behind him a period in which he suffered a serious knee injury and undertook 100 hours of community service after he was found guilty of driving more than three times over the legal limit.Bracewell told Hastings Crown Court last March that he had driven home from a function when his girlfriend called him in distress after their cockatoo had been killed by dogs she was looking after for a friend.At 27, he still has the opportunity to resurrect his career and will join Northamptonshire in time for the start of the Championship season, stepping in for the veteran South African Rory Kleinveldt who will arrive in time for the start of the Steelbacks’ Royal London One Day Cup campaign in mid-May.Bracewell’s strong-willed, seam bowling style should be perfectly suited to an English spring and Northamptonshire, who have a good track record in unearthing value signings, will gamble that his gratitude for an opportunity will show through on and off the field and help them mount a second division promotion campaign.He has appeared in 27 Tests, taking 72 wickets with best figures of 9 for 60 in Hobart, leading New Zealand to their first Test win in Australia in 26 years. He also has a handy record with the bat, making 2914 runs in 82 games with a high score of 105.Head Coach David Ripley said: “Doug is highly skilled and vastly experienced, with plenty of international experience under his belt, and he will give us the additional firepower we need alongside an already high quality attacking unit. We’re delighted to be getting him over.”Bracewell responded: “It’s a great opportunity to challenge myself in different conditions and I am hoping to improve as a player but also make a difference at the club while I’m there.”Northants will be well aware that Jesse Ryder, another Kiwi with a tarnished reputation, made a great impact at Essex, contributing to the promotion of a side that then went on to win the Championship in his absence last summer.Early in his career, Bracewell twice suffered penalties after drinking incidents with Ryder. He was also ruled out of the Dunedin Test against England in 2013 when he stepped on glass while cleaning up after a house party and gashed his foot.But by going where some counties would definitely fear to tread, Northants, who have recruited shrewdly in recent years on a tight budget, have given themselves a chance of a strong start to the season.As yet there is no suggestion that Ben Duckett, who has also attracted a headline or two recently, has been appointed Bracewell’s minder. But with Northants you never can tell.

Kamran Akmal has been recalled to the national team after three years while Ahmed Shehzad, who had been overlooked for a year, made a return to the T20I and ODI sides for Pakistan’s tour to the West Indies. Azhar Ali, who had been captain of the 50-over side as recently as January, has been dropped.The selection committee, headed by Inzamam-ul-Haq, also called up five uncapped players while fast bowler Mohammad Amir has been rested for the T20 format.

Pakistan squads for WI tour

T20Is: Ahmed Shehzad, Kamran Akmal, Mohammad Hafeez, Babar Azam, Shoaib Malik, Fakhar Zaman, Sarfraz Ahmed (capt & wk), Imad Wasim, Shadab Khan, Mohammad Nawaz, Wahab Riaz, Sohail Tanvir, Rumman Raees, Hasan Ali, Usman Khan
ODIs: Ahmed Shehzad, Kamran Akmal, Mohammad Hafeez, Babar Azam, Shoaib Malik, Fakhar Zaman, Asif Zakir, Sarfraz Ahmed (capt & wk), Imad Wasim, Shadab Khan, Hasan Ali, Wahab Riaz, Mohammad Amir, Fahim Ashraf, Junaid Khan, Mohammad Asghar

Kamran, 35, last featured for Pakistan during the 2014 World T20 and has not been in contention for the national side since his central contract was cut the same year. He was, however, prolific on the domestic circuit in the 2014-15 season, scoring 900 first-class runs at 52.94 and 576 List A runs at 52.36. In the subsequent year, he made 480 first-class runs at 60 and 576 List A runs at 72. He was the top-scorer with 1035 runs at 79.61 in the recent first-class season and was the leading run-scorer in the second edition of Pakistan Super League with a tally of 353.Shehzad, 25, has not been part of the Pakistan team since the 2016 World T20 due to disciplinary issues. He fought his way back into contention after hitting three hundreds in the departmental one-day cup, amassing 653 runs at an average of 93.28 earlier this year. He combined a number of low scores with a few impressive knocks in this year’s PSL and did enough to restore selectors’ faith in him. With Pakistan searching for openers after Sharjeel Khan’s suspension for his involvement in alleged corruption in the PSL, Shehzad has been given another opportunity.These squads were picked from a pool of 31 players who were in Lahore for a training camp and Inzamam said only one of them failed to pass a fitness test – Umar Akmal. Pakistan’s head coach Mickey Arthur himself had put the players through the paces at the National Cricket Academy and has been very vocal about his men being at the peak of their physical ability.”We had a set a fitness standard which isn’t really a tough one to start with,” Inzamam said. “But he still didn’t meet the average level. So whoever the player is, whatever his performance is like, we could not select him. Umar being dropped is a reprimand and it’s a major blow for any player. He is a good player, we needed him, but we had to take a decision.”Inzamam was sympathetic to Azhar’s cause as well and said the former ODI captain remained a part of their long-term plans. “He is still in our loop for Champions Trophy in England where, considering the conditions, we probably will need our senior batsmen. But for now we wanted to encourage our junior players who can have a future with Pakistan.”Leading the uncapped players were batsman Fakhar Zaman and legspinner Shadab Khan. They were both highly impressive in the PSL and found a place in the squads for both limited-overs formats. Domestic veteran Asif Zakir, who has been playing first-class cricket for 14 years and has 123 matches under his belt, has been trusted to translate that experience on the ODI stage. Rounding off the uncapped roster were left-arm spinner Mohammad Asghar and the leading wicket-taker from the 2016-17 departmental one-day cup Fahim Ashraf.”These young players are equally good and they are going to play international cricket for the country,” Inzamam said. “So they need to play at the highest level at some stage and I have full faith in them. They will perform, and conditions in the West Indies, we all know are similar to the ones in subcontinent and the West Indies team isn’t like the one in the 70s, 80s or even from the 90s. But still if they face tough competition there, this will obviously help them to develop.”For the T20Is, Pakistan have picked left-arm quicks for the T20s with Sohail Tanvir, Wahab Riaz, Usman Khan, who had debuted in 2013, and Rumman Raees, who was part of the previous Pakistan squad that played West Indies in the UAE in 2016. Hasan Ali offered the option of variation.Pakistan play four T20Is, three ODIs and three Tests in the Caribbean starting on March 31.

The BCCI and PCB will meet in Dubai on May 29 to discuss the MoU to play six bilateral series between 2015 and 2023. Because of the strained relations between the two countries, the BCCI has not had the federal government’s clearance to honour the MoU, which was signed in 2014. India didn’t play the proposed series in 2015, and look set to give it a miss in 2017 too.Earlier this month, the PCB had sent a notice of dispute to the BCCI, claiming losses for the BCCI’s refusal to tour in 2015. Although the BCCI indicated this MoU was “just a letter” and not a formal “contract”, it wrote to the government of India again about two weeks ago. Amitabh Choudhary, the acting BCCI secretary, said he communicated the same to PCB’s chairman Shaharyar Khan. Choudhary said the PCB’s response invoked a provision in the MoU for dialogue should a series not go ahead. Choudhary will represent the BCCI in the meeting with Shaharyar and/or PCB’s legal representatives.”We still remain committed to playing,” Choudhary said, “but the position doesn’t change: the series cannot go ahead without the permission of the government of India. After PCB wrote to us, we have written to the government of India again, and are awaiting the response. I believe the dialogue should go on, which is why we are meeting.”However, India continue to play Pakistan in multi-team events, as they did in Kolkata in the World T20 last year, and will do again in Birmingham during the Champions Trophy, six days after this meeting between the two boards.India were supposed to play away against Pakistan in 2015, and are scheduled to host them in 2017. In 2015, the BCCI had offered PCB a series at home, which the PCB declined. India in turn refused to play Pakistan’s home series at a neutral venue without specifying any reasons. “We are not asking any permission from the government,” the then BCCI president Shashank Manohar had told ESPNcricinfo. “We are not playing in UAE. That is certain. There are reasons. But I don’t want another debate on that. So I will not tell you the reasons.”

Trevor Bayliss, the England coach, has called for the team to play smarter cricket following the poor end to their tour of South Africa as they turn attentions to the World T20 in India. However, he does not want the players to go into their shells after a difficult couple of weeks, saying that the winner in India will be the “boldest” team on show.England ended their stay in South Africa with a crushing nine-wicket defeat at the Wanderers to lose the T20 series 2-0. From a promising position of 157 for 3 – with Eoin Morgan and Jos Buttler finding their range – they were well placed for 200, but conspired to lose 7 for 14 and not even play out their overs.They were then belted around the Bullring by AB de Villiers who cartwheeled to 71 off 29 balls as South Africa raced to their target with more than five overs to spare.It led to Bayliss saying it was like “men against boys” and meant that England finished with five defeats on the bounce having been 2-0 up in the one-day series before being let down by poor fielding when they could have sealed it in the Johannesburg ODI. Although the Test series was secured on that heady day at the Wanderers when Stuart Broad blew South Africa away the tour ended on a downbeat note.There is little time to ponder with just a short break at home before departing for India where they will face group matches against West Indies, Sri Lanka, a qualifier and, potentially significantly given recent results, South Africa again in Mumbai on March 18. Faf du Plessis, the South Africa T20 captain, was not shy at suggesting his side could have struck some psychological blows.”I can guarantee you one thing, the team that wins the World Twenty20 will be the boldest team there,” Bayliss said.”If we go out and try to be too nice, or if we give that advantage away or are not as positive and aggressive as we have been when we have played well and won, then we will still not win – because there will be teams out there with the confidence, players and ability to go out and play that way.”The two series defeats in South Africa have zapped some of the feel-good factor that had developed around England’s white-ball teams since their post-World Cup rebuilding which has been forged on an almost breakable desire to be positive and for players to be encouraged to push their own boundaries.Both Bayliss and Morgan have cited the inexperience in the side as a factor as to why the wheels came off somewhat in South Africa and cautioned that more such days cannot be ruled out as players continue to find their feet at international level. But the straight-talking Bayliss knows that platitudes about how good a team could be does not help in the present.”We’ve had some good results, but it’s a reminder to people back home in England that this team is still a developing one,” he said. “We’ve had some good performances, and there’s a lot of potential there.”But potential never won anything … we’ve got some hard work to do. I think the expectation the players have put on themselves is why they are so disappointed when they play badly. It may be that extra pressure they put on themselves that they’ve got to get over.”In the final ODI at Newlands and the first T20 at the same ground, England were criticised for not adjusting quickly enough to conditions and reassessing what a defendable total could be.”We spoke the other night, it is a case of going with the flow of the game,” Bayliss said. “If we get off to a good start, you have to recognise that flow [and think] ‘can we continue to do this’?”If we do happen to lose a few wickets … well, has the flow of the game changed, and do we have to play a little bit differently? I think that will be playing smart cricket, and that is what the good teams will do.”Still, despite the setback, Bayliss believes that England can put on a good show in India which will conclude a long period overseas for the team this winter.”If we play well … we’ll be hard to beat. In the last two games, we haven’t played all that well – and in this game, we’ve been beaten easily. We’re going to have to play a lot better than that.””It’s small margins,” he added. “One catch, and we’d have only lost the last four – and we’d have won the one-day series. That’s as simple as it can get. You win that fourth match, who knows … it might have given the boys enough confidence to go on and win the fifth one. We’ve got to learn from that, and work out how we can get better.”

ScorecardWayne Madsen’s century saved the innings defeat for Derbyshire but Worcestershire prevailed in the end•Getty Images

For the first time in 92 years Derbyshire finished a County Championship season without a single victory after losing to Worcestershire by nine wickets in their final Specsavers Division Two fixture at New Road.Having started the last day at 15 for 1, still 212 behind, they held off the home side for five hours until they were dug out for 266. Worcestershire had to make 40 and lost Brett D’Oliveira before securing third place behind Essex and Kent.At least the division’s bottom county went down on a note of defiance thanks to Wayne Madsen’s sixth championship century of the season and Harvey Hosein’s achievement in becoming only the fourth Derbyshire wicketkeeper to make a hundred and a fifty in a match.The last Derbyshire player to score six hundreds was Chris Rogers in 2009, and there was another milestone for Madsen in closing the campaign with a personal-best total of 1,292 runs, the fourth year in a row that he has topped 1,000.There was also a distinction on the bowling side as Joe Leach took 7 for 108 in the match and ended his summer with 65 wickets, the most in Division Two.Leach had given Worcestershire encouragement in his second over of the day. Alex Hughes went forward and drove hard but edged to Tom Kohler-Cadmore.More trouble for Derbyshire followed when Billy Godleman hoisted a ball from Miguel Cummins straight to Ed Barnard at fine leg, a shot that was perhaps not in keeping with a side battling to avoid defeat.At 29 for 3, Derbyshire were still 198 behind but Madsen gave them some hope with Tom Wood’s help until his younger partner was caught behind the wicket off Barnard after making 10 out of 45 in 10 overs.It was the appearance of Hosein that injected new conviction. In making his fifth consecutive score of 50 or more, the 20-year-old judged his role to perfection, allowing Madsen to take the main role but scoring consistently himself as they put on 124 in 26 overs.Another New Road pitch conformed to the pattern of the season in becoming flatter the longer the game went on.Even Madsen’s dismissal, leg-before to Charlie Morris for exactly 100 after hitting 15 fours and a six, did not immediately open the door to Worcestershire.Hosein maintained his unflappable tempo and Tom Milnes brought a bolder approach until Daryl Mitchell intervened with two wickets in eight ballsThe seventh bowler in the attack, the home captain bowled Milnes for 36 and Greg Cork for 4. Suddenly Worcestershire’s challenge was reignited and in the next over, D’Oliveira accounted for Hosein, caught at short leg for 59, and Will Davis, lbw without scoring, in successive deliveries.Cummins then took the new ball and when Tony Palladino was given out leg-before, the last five wickets had fallen for the addition of 11 runs.

Welcome to our rolling report from the third ODI between England and South Africa Women at Canterbury. We will bring you colour, pictures, statistics and intermittent updates from the series decider. For live score updates, click here for our match card.

Gladstone Dainty, president of the USA Cricket Association (USACA), and board member Dr Linden Dodson of New York have filed a lawsuit in United States District Court in the Eastern District of New York against the ICC and its chief executive David Richardson, seeking $2 million dollars in damages for defamation and “tortious interference with business relations between plaintiffs and the United States of America Cricket Association”.Previous legal actions brought by Dainty, as part of collective legal challenges and defences on behalf of the USACA board of directors, have been argued by the high-powered law firm of McGuireWoods LLC. According to USACA’s 2013 tax return filing, the governing body spent more than $360,000 in legal fees that year. However, the lawyer representing Dainty and Dodson in the April 30, 2018 filing against Richardson and the ICC is Gary Certain of Certain & Zillberg PLLC, whose website advertises their service as a no win, no fee representation.Even though the lawsuit is a personal filing by Dainty and Dodson, it argues mainly that the ICC has injured USACA. A central claim is that the ICC “proposed and demanded constitution and rule changes” that violated USACA’s autonomy and served not the board’s best interests “but rather the personal preferences of the officers and directors of the ICC”. Similarly, the suit claims that any changes forced by the ICC on USACA would violate its 501(c)(3) non-profit status.This would directly impact Dainty and Dodson, according to the lawsuit, because the changes the ICC attempted to mandate were “part of its malicious and thinly vailed [sic] campaign to oust the duly elected members of USACA’s board of directors”. As part of their business interference argument, the suit claims that USACA’s expulsion has “prevented the plaintiffs and other board members from meaningfully continuing in their capacities as sanctioned members of the international competitive cricket community”.One of the reasons USACA was initially suspended and eventually expelled by the ICC was its failure to ratify a new constitution that would have enacted sweeping reforms on the governance of the organization. However, Dodson subsequently has been a long-serving member of the ICC’s Sustainable Foundation advisory group, which designed the new constitution for USA Cricket, the new governing body in line to replace USACA as the ICC’s Associate member in America.The suit asks for injunctive relief “staying the expulsion of USACA as the United States of America associate member to the ICC”. They are also seeking injunctive relief “prohibiting the ICC from granting any class of ICC membership” to any other entity operating within the USA such as USA Cricket.However, the suit has not been made with USACA as a plaintiff. Previous statements made by Richardson hint at the reason USACA is not a co-plaintiff in this most recent filing. ICC members are bound to go through mediation in disputes regarding membership, something that occurred last year prior to USACA’s expulsion.”They’ve already taken the matter to the ICC Dispute Resolution Committee on an expedited basis, attempting to stop the board and full council from considering the expulsion of USACA at these meetings,” Richardson told reporters last June at the ICC annual conference after the decision to expel USACA, via a unanimous vote of the ICC membership, had been made public. “The arbitrator found in favor of the ICC and found the ICC had acted rationally and was quite entitled to take the decision to expel USACA.”As for the defamation claims, the suit argues that Richardson and the ICC made false statements against the members of the USACA board. Most of the statements were made by US cricket stakeholders, which included USACA members, as part of interviews collected and summarised in a confidential report seen by ESPNcricinfo, authored by Richardson and then head of global development Tim Anderson, which was presented to ICC members ahead of a vote for USACA’s suspension in 2015. It was the third time that USACA had been suspended in a decade, with previous suspensions occurring in 2005 and 2007 for governance problems.The suit claims that “in the context of social and professional communications the plaintiffs have been confronted with inquiries concerning the disparaging statements of the defendants”. Dodson works as a veterinarian in New York and Dainty is a certified public accountant (CPA), businesses “whose practices rely on their professional reputations for honesty, competency and integrity which are assailed by the disparaging statements,” according to the suit.ESPNcricinfo reached out to the ICC for a response to the suit filed in New York by Dainty and Dodson, but a spokesperson declined to comment.

ScorecardA thrilling century stand between Tom Moores and Jake Libby returned Notts Outlaws to winning ways in their crucial Vitality Blast match against Yorkshire Vikings.Both youngsters registered their highest scores in the competition, as Notts posted 212 for 5 on their way to a victory by 63 runs. Moores scored an unbeaten 80, blasting six fours and three sixes, putting on 112 in only 10.5 overs with Libby, who made 58.The Vikings were always struggling to compete with a rapidly-increasing run-rate and could only make 149 for 7. Tom Kohler-Cadmore top-scored with 72 in their chase but the Outlaws’ attack held firm, led by Harry Gurney’s 3 for 24.Yorkshire lacked skipper Steve Patterson and Tim Bresnan from the side beaten by Lancashire and their injury concerns are also piling up. Patterson, their seasoned seamer, whose unexpected rise to the captaincy late in his career has brought a semblance of stability, will miss the rest of the season with a broken finger; David Willey took over here.And a hand injury to Kane Williamson in this match – like Patterson the previous day, also while taking a catch – will mean an anxious wait while x-rays are assessed.Libby said: “They haven’t quite found the balance of the batting order right yet and they gave me the opportunity to bat at three tonight. I enjoyed it and tried to play strong shots. You get value for your shots here.”At the start of the evening Alex Hales, playing his 100th T20 game for his county, fell for 17 in only the third over of the match, cutting Jack Brooks to point, where Williamson took a low catch. The New Zealander immediately left the field and didn’t return for the remainder of the innings, requiring attention to a hand injury.Libby was the chief aggressor as the two youngsters began their stand. The Cornishman cleared the ropes for the first time with a mighty blow off Brooks and repeated the dose off Jordan Thompson to bring up the 50 stand.Both batsmen continued to pepper the Vikings attack in their personal duel to reach 50 and it was Libby who arrived at the landmark first, from only 25 balls. Moores followed, getting there from 35 deliveries.Thompson ended the stand by bowling Libby but the runs continued to flow as Dan Christian plundered 20 from only seven balls. Moores and Samit Patel took 14 from the final over to set the Vikings a challenging target.Adam Lyth, playing his 100th T20 match, made only 14 but it was the only success for Notts in the opening 12 overs as Kohler-Cadmore and Willey added 74 together; Riki Wessels’ fine boundary catch off Patel ending the partnership.Ish Soshi bagged the prize scalp of Kohler-Cadmore, with Steven Mullaney taking the catch and then Gurney claimed his three wickets to seal the win.Amongst his haul was the wicket of Williamson, who made his way to the crease at No. 5 but was clearly handicapped by his injury and could only make 11.Four wickets fell for only five runs in the closing stages, leaving 70 runs needed from the final over.The margin of victory, in front of a crowd of 12,277, leapfrogs Notts above Yorkshire and into four place in the North Group.