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ScorecardPhil Mustard’s half-century took the match away from Sussex•Getty Images

Taking captaincy decisions after consulting the weather forecast is not normally recommended practice but should Paul Collingwood, the Durham skipper, find himself staring out at a covered square on Friday with Sussex clinging on, eight wickets down, he will be cursing this match as a missed opportunity.The win that would see Durham leapfrog Yorkshire at the top of the Championship table, with an advantage of 14 and a half points with three matches to play, is theirs for the taking, with a lead that would already require Sussex to make the largest fourth-innings score to win a match on this ground.The dilemma for Collingwood is that, with two full days left, he would not want a repeat of what happened here in April, in Durham’s only defeat at home, when he declared at 275 for 4, leaving Yorkshire to chase an unlikely 335 to win, only for Andrew Gale’s side to pull it off, with four wickets in hand.Whether that could have happened had Joe Root not been in the Yorkshire side to make 182 is a matter for conjecture. On a wicket that has for the most part not yielded runs easily, however, no one in a depleted Sussex line-up has hinted at achieving anything remotely of that magnitude. Given Friday’s wet forecast, Collingwood would be wise not to old his bowlers back for too long on day three.Collingwood’s record of 11 wins in 18 Championship matches since he succeeded Phil Mustard as captain ought, in any case, to have given him confidence in his decision-making. The calmness and authority he brings to his leadership were qualities that served him well in steering Durham to their position of strength in this game. It was his partnership of 93 with Mustard for the sixth Durham wicket that put him in control.It came on a day in which Sussex, 60 for 3 overnight, were bowled out for 112 before lunch, a fairly abject performance, even taking into account their long list of absentees, that handed Durham first-innings lead of 133.This looked like a match-winning advantage on a ground where low scoring is usual but there was less certainty about it after none of their top five batsmen scored more than 22 in their second innings, leaving them 90 for 5. There was no Chris Jordan in their seam attack, compounding the effects of Luke Wright, Ed Joyce and Matt Machan being absent from their batting line-up — all due to international call-ups — but Steve Magoffin was as impressive as ever, and well backed up, too by Lewis Hatchett and James Anyon.Magoffin struck first as Keaton Jennings, still to find consistency with the bat, fell to a diving catch by Chris Nash at third slip, then Mark Stoneman, having unleashed a couple of handsome boundaries through the covers, was leg before to Anyon, who then made the ball bounce and leave Scott Borthwick, who was caught behind.Will Smith, for the second time in the match, paid the price for a loose drive outside off stump, and when Michael Richardson was caught behind, Durham’s lead was 223. A couple more wickets lost at that point and Sussex might have sensed an opportunity to put themselves back in the race.Instead, they came up against Collingwood in obdurate mood, setting the tone for Mustard to adopt a similarly measured approach and while the next 35 overs did not contain many moment that will readily bring the passage of play to mind, the end result was a stand of 93, in which Collingwood scored most of his runs behind square, with a nudge here and a dab there, and he had made 45 before he played back to a ball from offspinner Chris Nash. Mustard is 57 not out overnight.Earlier, Sussex had capitulated within the first 22.5 overs of the morning session. Graham Onions added two more wickets on his return from injury to the couple he picked up on Tuesday evening, taking his tally for the season to 48. There is something in this pitch for the bowlers to work with and no one exploits it better than Onions, even on days such as this when he was not at his most niggardly, struggling to find his rhythm.In any event, Luke Wells and Rory Hamilton-Brown helped him out by chasing balls outside off stump, falling in turn to catches behind the wicket. Usman Arshad, a 20-year-old right-arm seamer making only his second Championship appearance, took three wickets in seven balls. Yet Chris Rushworth, who bowled better than any among Durham’s seam quartet, somehow ended wicketless.

Paul Collingwood, the former England batsman, will begin his coaching education by taking up a post with Scotland over the winter.Collingwood recently led Durham to the Championship title and still has one year left on his contract but, rather than pursue T20 deals or media work in the off season, he will lend the experience of more than 200 limited-overs internationals to Scotland’s attempts to qualify for the World Twenty20 and World Cup.In addition to 68 Tests, Collingwood is England’s most-capped player in ODIs, with 197 appearances, and he also captained England to victory at the 2010 World T20. He could provide a valuable resource as the Associate nation tries to reach a global ICC tournament for the first time since 2009.The qualifier for the 2014 World T20 takes place in the UAE in November, with the qualifier for the 2015 World Cup following in New Zealand in January. Collingwood will play a full part in both the preparation and competition phases of both tournaments, working alongside Scotland’s head coach, Peter Steindl, and fielding coach/performance analyst Toby Bailey.In addition to Collingwood, Craig Wright, the current Under-19s coach and former Scotland captain, will join in the role of bowling coach.”Leading into two vital qualifying events, I was very keen to change things up a bit, add a couple of new voices to the coaching team and bring in coaches who had attained success at the very highest levels of the game,” Steindl said.”Paul has been part of successful teams as a player and a captain and it will be great to have his experience and knowledge on board. We identified Paul as a person we were very keen to secure and I am delighted he agreed to join us for the winter. I am sure he will be a hugely positive influence on the squad as we head into some really important cricket.”Collingwood, who has also played limited-overs cricket for teams in India, Australia and South Africa, added: ”I am very excited at the prospect of working with the Scotland squad over the coming months and look forward to helping the team qualify for both the World T20 and the 2015 World Cup.”Keith Oliver, chairman of Cricket Scotland said: ”Following discussions with Paul, we are convinced he will add real value to the coaching team and the playing squad. As a vastly experienced player and World Cup-winning captain , he will bring skills which will complement the existing team of coaches as we seek to qualify for two World Cups.”The Scotland team will leave for Sri Lanka on October 27 for a training camp before the World T20 qualifier starts, before arriving in Dubai on November 9. Scotland play two warm-up matches, against USA and Namibia before their first Group B game against Bermuda on November 15.

About the same time as Australia’s captain Michael Clarke put his fragile back through a final training session before his expected Sheffield Shield return with New South Wales, his opposite number Alastair Cook was jogging gingerly around the fringes of England’s training session in Perth with a back problem of his own.Cook’s apparent lack of mobility can be attributed, at least partly, to the rigours of a long-haul flight – the same problem that caused Clarke’s more serious back ailment to flare up before the Ashes series in England.It is not thought to be serious, but Cook was unable to bat and it remains to be seen whether he will take his place in the England XI for the tour opener against a Western Australia XI at the WACA ground from Thursday.Stuart Broad trained with similar conservatism, but it was the sight of Cook struggling to get limber that provided a reminder that problems of Clarke’s ilk are common to many batsmen, and that a freeze-up can occur at any time.The degenerative discs that had Clarke sounding unusually downbeat about his Gabba prospects earlier in the month are now cause for greater optimism. Clarke’s assiduous training and fitness habits have allowed him to regain his former flexibility, though it remains to be seen how his back responds this time to a steady diet of cricket.”I’ve been able to manage it with a lot of help from my physio and doctors since I’ve been 17 years of age and I’ve only missed one Test to date so hopefully that’s a real positive sign for me going forward,” Clarke said. “I certainly don’t believe my back will play a part in regards to shortening my career. It will be more a case of if I’m not performing the selectors will drop me, and hopefully I can get to a day where a few years on from now I’ll have the opportunity to retire.”Clarke offered a little more insight into his plans to be ready for what is likely to be a tall and bounce-extracting English pace attack, devised, at least partly, to stiffen the Australia captain’s back through constant ducking and weaving. Clarke had his throwdowns and bowling machine offerings delivered from a greater height before facing up to Morne Morkel last summer, and will do so again over the next three weeks.Alastair Cook is recovering from jet lag while Michael Clarke is set to test his troublesome back in the Sheffield Shield•Getty Images

“Little things like getting throwdowns or using the bowling machine, put up on a platform to give it more height, we can do a lot of stuff like that,” Clarke said “I’ve probably done that over the past couple of years before we played South Africa and Morne Morkel and also before the Ashes. We’ll get an opportunity when we get to Brisbane to prepare as well as we can, but the guys will be preparing in their own individual ways to combat our opposition.”The other combat Clarke spoke of at the SCG nets was not of the kind that he will want to perpetuate – the history wars currently being fought around the release of his predecessor Ricky Ponting’s autobiography. Some of its most pungent passages are reserved for Clarke, who is portrayed less as a loyal vice-captain than a leader-in-training who also possessed a little too much eagerness to get away from the dressing room.Ponting has said he hopes Clarke reads the book himself before discussing the issues he raised, maintaining his account is truthful and balanced, if not always airbrushed to his successor’s liking. Clarke was privately angered by his portrayal, but at the SCG nets was not prepared to diverge from his current narrative of rejuventation in time to prepare for the first Test against England at the Gabba.”Ricky has my number. We’ve spoken for the last 15 years so I don’t think anything will change,” Clarke said. “I’m very focused on what’s in front of me and making sure I’m as well prepared as I can be for this first Sheffield Shield game. I’ve said what I had to say on that issue. For me it’s about looking forward and preparing for tomorrow’s game and looking forward to a huge summer. I’m very focused on cricket and I certainly won’t let anything take my mind off that.”What Clarke had said over the weekend was that he wished Ponting had spoken to him privately about his concerns before publishing them. Ponting, though, has written that there had been plenty of opportunities for Clarke to pay heed to the counsel of both his then captain and also the coach at the time, Tim Nielsen.It is an issue Clarke does not need nor want to deal with on the outskirts of an Ashes series in which he will be under pressure both to perform and also to emerge victorious. But like the back ailment he has carried since his teenage years, and the gingerness which may be causing a momentary hiccup for Cook, Ponting’s words cannot be easily ignored.

ScorecardFile photo – Tanmay Srivastava remained unbeaten on 125•K Sivaraman

India Test discards Suresh Raina and RP Singh struck telling blows with bat and ball respectively for the second time in the match as Uttar Pradesh took control against Baroda in Moti Bagh. On a deteriorating pitch, UP built on their first-innings lead of 74 to extend it to 368 before declaring. Raina scored 65 but the innings was built around the opener Tanmay Srivastava who finished unbeaten on 125.Spin accounted for all ten wickets in UP’s first innings and the hosts, having already conceded an innings lead, needed wickets to prevent Baroda from extending their advantage. The spinners bowled in tandem with several men around the bat in the first session and there were plenty of close bat-pad and lbw appeals that were turned down. Mukul Dagar and Srivastava added 111 before a double-strike gave Baroda hope.Bhargav Bhatt, who took a five-for in the first innings, was on a hat-trick, having trapped Dagar padding up and getting Mohammad Kaif to edge to slip. Raina, who scored 123 in the first innings, batted positively hitting seven boundaries in his 65 off 86 balls. His 110-run stand with Srivastava took the game further away from Baroda and UP batted themselves into a position from which they could declare.Raina aimed to push the scoring following his fifty by looking to cut the spinners. After several unsuccessful attempts, he managed to edge one from the offspinner Utkarsh Patel to the keeper. Srivastava reached his century shortly after tea and when the declaration came, UP had the final half hour to have a crack at Baroda.RP, who took a four-wicket haul in the first innings, struck off the first ball of the chase when Saurabh Wakaskar poked his bat out at an away swinger and edged behind. Aditya Waghmode played and missed and lost his middle stump to RP. Baroda ended the day at a uneasy 5 for 2, having to face an in-form RP and a wearing surface on the final day to survive.

ScorecardDean Brownlie scored fifties in both innings for Canterbury•Getty Images

Canterbury maintained their position at the top of the table with a six-wicket win over Northern Districts. The victory, their third in four matches, took them to 56 points, 10 clear of second-placed Wellington.Northern Districts were bundled out for 176 in the first innings, after being put in to bat. Pacers Matt Henry and Shanan Stewart led Canterbury’s attack, picking up three wickets apiece, while the only resistance from the batting side came in the form of an 84-run stand between Northern Districts captain Daniel Flynn and Anton Devcich.Canterbury’s reply looked shaky at 152 for 7, but their captain Andrew Ellis rescued the innings with a knock of 142, his second successive first-class ton. Dean Brownlie chipped in with 63 while pacer Logan van Beek scored his maiden first-class fifty, adding 135 runs for the eighth wicket with Ellis. Canterbury were eventually dismissed for 382 with a lead of 206.Daryl Mitchell’s second first-class hundred led Northern Districts’ improved second-innings showing. A late-order rally led by Jono Boult helped the side reach 364 in spite of the loss of quick wickets in the middle, but they could only set Canterbury a target of 159.Canterbury lost both their openers with the score on 15 before Brownlie thwarted the opposition once again, scoring 64 to guide the side to a win.
ScorecardAn all-round performance from Wellington boosted the side to an eight-wicket win over Otago in Invercargill, helping them climb to second place in the league standings with 46 points.Michael Pollard and Wellington captain, James Franklin, struck centuries to lead the side to 487 in response to Otago’s first-innings score of 339. The pair shared a 238-run fourth-wicket stand, helping Wellington overhaul Otago’s score before James Neesham’s five-for and a four-wicket haul from Sam Wells restricted the batting side’s lead to 148.The Wellington bowlers, led by offspinner Jeetan Patel, then chipped away at the Otago line-up. Aaron Redmond, Neil Broom and Michael Bracewell made useful contributions, and Neesham smashed a 47-ball 60 – his second fifty of the game – but the Wellington bowlers didn’t allow partnerships to flourish and restricted Otago to 229. Patel finished with 4 for 75, while pacer Andy McKay took three wickets.Wellington achieved the target of 82 in just 13.1 overs, losing only the openers in the process.Earlier, fifties from Jesse Ryder, Neesham and Broom had helped Otago post 339 after they opted to bat. Mark Gillespie and Brent Arnel were the most successful bowlers for Wellington in the first innings, taking three wickets each.
ScorecardUnbeaten fifties from Tim McIntosh and Bruce Martin helped Auckland salvage a draw against Central Districts in Napier.Set a steep target of 349, Auckland were struggling at 73 for 6 before an unbeaten 101-run, seventh-wicket stand between Martin and McIntosh took the side to safety. McIntosh played for time, taking 177 balls to score 50, while Martin’s sixth first-class fifty came in 106 balls.Both teams amassed big totals in their respective first innings. Peter Trego’s 10th first-class hundred and fifties from Jamie How, Kruger van Wyk and Ben Wheeler boosted Central Districts to 467.Martin Guptill’s 185 held Auckland’s reply together, even as the other batsmen – save for Colin Munro who scored 50 – failed to post substantial scores. Guptill was the last wicket to fall for Auckland and his eighth first-class hundred took the side to 351. Martin and Auckland pacer Michael Bates then picked up eight wickets between them to keep Central Districts to 232. The match between the last-placed teams in the league finished with Canterbury taking away eight points, while Auckland earned seven.

ScorecardIftikhar Ahmed’s maiden ton in List A cricket, and a five-wicket haul from seamer Taj Wali, helped Peshawar Panthers beat Lahore Lions by eight wickets to reach the final of the One Day Cup.Iftikhar struck seven fours and a six during his unbeaten 103, and added 110 for the first wicket with Israrullah, as Peshawar made a bright start in their chase of 215. Israullah fell for 61 in the 24th over, but Iftikhar and Mohammad Idrees combined for an unbroken third-wicket association that yielded 76 to take the team home in 42.2 overs.After choosing to bat, Lahore had lost their openers Imran Butt and Arsalan Arshad inside ten overs, but their captain Umar Siddiq led a recovery by putting up stands of 97 and 51 for the third and fourth wickets with Salman Ali and Agha Salman. Siddiq top-scored with 79 before he was dismissed by Wali in the 40th over with the score at 183 for 5. Lahore tried to push on, but Wali finished with 5 for 38 to restrict Lahore to 214 for 9.Peshawar will face the winner of the semi-final between Karachi Dolphins and Karachi Zebras in the final on Tuesday.

In early January, Sri Lanka’s chief selector Sanath Jayasuriya recommended that Thisara Perera be denied the no-objection certificate for the Big Bash League. A month later, Thisara became Sri Lanka’s saviour in the first ODI after having already played a pivotal role in the 2-0 win in the preceding Twenty20 series.In the intervening time, he worked overtime in the nets back in Colombo and played two first-class matches for Colts. He believes the extra training helped him turn around his form, after he made only 13 runs in three ODIs against Pakistan in the UAE.”After the UAE tour, I had one-month period for training session,” Thisara said. “I worked hard with supporting staff in Sri Lanka. It was really helpful for me.”Jayasuriya was adamant that a stint in Australia playing Twenty20s would not help him progress as an allrounder, having used a similar treatment to rouse him out of a slump previously. “We are not giving him permission to play in the Big Bash. He has to work and stay in Sri Lanka,” Jayasuriya had said. “The reason is poor form. He’s been in very poor form with his bowling and batting. He needs to work on some things with the coaches in Sri Lanka.”Bangladesh now know how helpful the rap had been for Thisara, and how effective his confidence can be for Sri Lanka. From 67 for 8, he rescued Sri Lanka with an unbeaten 80 off 57 balls, which is the third-highest by a batsman at No. 9, and is only the second by a Sri Lankan after Guy de Alwis.But match-winning rescue acts are not new to Thisara. His unbeaten 36 here in Mirpur four years ago was the first instance when his last-ditch hitting helped Sri Lanka to a win. Against South Africa in early 2012, his unbeaten 69 helped his side to a famous win. There have been a 21 not out and a 19 not out against Australia in 2012 and 2013, as well as the unbeaten 35 against Bangladesh in the second T20 in Chittagong last week.Sri Lanka captain Angelo Mathews called Thisara’s innings “absolutely brilliant” and praised his all-round abilities. “He is one of the best allrounders that we have. He has been winning us matches in the past few years with bat and ball, he is matured. He did it in the T20s in Chittagong, and he has improved quite rapidly. Hopefully he will continue to do the same thing in the future.’The way he batted was absolutely brilliant. When Thisara and Sachithra were batting, I thought we should get to at least 150 to give the bowlers some sort of chance. He is matured now, he has been winning games with bat and ball.”

Joe Root has, as expected, been ruled out of the World T20 due to the broken thumb which forced him to leave the tour of West Indies last week. Ian Bell, who has not played a Twenty20 match since January 2011, has been approved by ICC as his replacement.Root was struck on the thumb on the third ball of his innings during the final ODI in Antigua and despite advice to retire hurt, he continued to score his maiden one-day hundred and help England to a series win. He still managed to open the bowling before leaving the field for treatment, and subsequent x-rays showed the extent of the damage. An ECB spokesman commented that the x-rays revealed that Root’s thumb is “in eight pieces.”He returned to the UK to see a specialist and although he has not been required to have the thumb pinned, the timescale to the World T20 is too narrow for him to make a return. England’s first group match is on March 22 against New Zealand.On Twitter, Root posted: “Bitterly disappointed I’m unable to make the World Cup! Want to wish the boys the best of luck and have every confidence in the whole squad.”Currently there is no precise date for Root’s return to action. Yorkshire’s County Championship season starts on April 13 but that may yet prove too early for him.Bell has played seven T20Is, the last against Australia in Melbourne more than three years ago, and was not part of the initial 30-man squad named for the World T20.England have other, ongoing, injury concerns in the T20 squad with Stuart Broad ruled out of the final two matches against West Indies due to a knee problem and Eoin Morgan, who will deputise as captain, not at full fitness either.

Allrounder Abhishek Nayar has failed to recover from a left-thumb injury and has been replaced with Mumbai team-mate Suryakumar Yadav in West Zone’s squad for the Deodhar Trophy, to be played at Visakhapatnam from March 23 to 27.Nayar, who averaged 55 with the bat during the West Zone one-day league for the Ramakant Desai Trophy, was one of the few bright spots in an otherwise forgettable campaign for Mumbai. Nayar hurt a ligament in his left thumb while attempting a catch in the tournament, where Mumbai finished in last place.He was expected to recover in time for the inter-zonal one-day championship but a slow recovery has resulted in him being sidelined from the tournament. Nayar told ESPNcricinfo that he will take “at least a week more” to regain full match-fitness.Nayar’s injury has presented Yadav, who led Mumbai in the one-dayers, an opportunity to impress the national selectors. West Zone, the defending champions who will be led by India batsman Cheteshwar Pujara, open their campaign in the semi-final on March 25. They will face the winner of the quarter-final between Central Zone and East Zone.

Rohit Sharma has said he hopes to pick up the skills of consistent cricket from Michael Hussey, who will be joining Mumbai Indians for IPL 2014. Hussey was not retained by his previous franchise, Chennai Super Kings, and was bought by the defending IPL champions for Rs 5 crores ($833,000 approx) in the auction in February.Hussey’s inclusion is expected to strengthen Mumbai’s top order that is missing Ricky Ponting, Sachin Tendulkar and Dwayne Smith from last season. The bowling is also missing Mitchell Johnson, who was one of the leading wicket-takers in their title win, but Rohit said that the presence of Zaheer Khan was a boost.”Except Mitchell Johnson and Dwayne Smith, we have pretty much the same side,” he told the . “We wanted to buy Johnson and used the joker card too but sadly it couldn’t happen. However, the core players still remain the same; plus, we have Michael Hussey and Zaheer Khan, who bring a lot of experience. So picking the right combination will be important for us. On a personal note, I’m looking forward to learn from Hussey how he manages to be so consistent.”Rohit, who took over as captain from Ricky Ponting midway last season, said the leadership role had given him confidence that he carried forward into international cricket. He also stressed that the biggest test for most teams this season would not be the new conditions in UAE, but finding a team spirit right away due to the formation of new squads.”More than the playing conditions, what will be the key for most of the teams is how quickly every player gels with the other,” he said. “After the auction, the teams have many new members and it will be a challenge for them to perform as a group. If the atmosphere in the dressing room is friendly and positive, then it is reflected on the field. Right combinations will be the key to success. These will be challenging two months ahead.”