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England have retained the same 13-man squad for the third Investec Test against West Indies at Lord’s, meaning Tom Westley could still make a case to retain his place at No. 3.Defeat at Headingley – England’s first at home to West Indies since 2000 – left the series level at 1-1 but the selectors have continued a policy of sticking with players who have underperformed. The shape of the top order has been of particular concern ahead of the winter’s Ashes tour to Australia, while England also dropped six clear chances over both innings as West Indies pulled off a famous chase of 322.England’s problems began in the first innings at Headingley, where their batting let them down again, although they gave an improved showing to post 490 for 8 second time around. Mark Stoneman scored his maiden international half-century and Dawid Malan posted a score in the 60s for the second game running.Westley’s role has been most under scrutiny, however, having so far managed scores of 8, 3 and 8 in the series. In the second innings at Headingley, he was caught playing an expansive drive the over after surviving a running mix-up with Stoneman, as England fought to overturn a 169-run first-innings deficit.Although he made a half-century in his second Test innings, against South Africa at The Oval, his returns have quickly diminished. A strong scorer on the leg side, he was twice dismissed lbw by West Indies bowlers targeting his pads.England could still make changes to the balance of their side at Lord’s, with the legspinner Mason Crane – who pulled off superb catch while on as a substitute to briefly lift the team on the fifth day at Headingley – potentially in line for a Test debut. Chris Woakes had replaced Toby Roland-Jones for the second Test and struggled for consistency on his return although batted impressively. Crane, Woakes and Stuart Broad have been available for NatWest T20 Blast Finals Day on September 2.The coach, Trevor Bayliss, has meanwhile given his support to England captain Joe Root after his declaration on the fourth day allowed West Indies a way back into the series.”I don’t think it will affect him too much,” Bayliss said. “I think there are a few guys in the team behind him that were fully supportive – everyone was fully supportive – of his declaration and I’m sure they’ll be backing him up and suggesting in the future if we need to declare I’m sure they’ll give him a helping hand.”I hope the result doesn’t change the way he thinks about the game. In that situation, more times than not, we’ll win more than we lose. The wicket played pretty well and the West Indies batted even better, so all credit to them, but I’d like to see the same sort of thought process happening in the future.”

India were not equipped to handle big occasions, so said Mithali Raj, the captain. Those comments came from a place of disappointment after her team had lost to Australia in the group stage. But now, a week after that thrashing, on a stage as massive as the semi-final of the World Cup, one of her team-mates produced an innings for the ages against the same opposition. Harmanpreet Kaur mauled 171 off 115 balls – she was 41 off 60 before going on a brutal onslaught that would yield 131 off 55.The 28-year old hard-hitting batsman had earned acclaim in the T20 circuit, becoming the first Indian to be picked for the Big Bash League and the Kia Super League. But at the World Cup, Harmanpreet found herself coming in towards the slog overs and so struggled to get time in the middle. Before the semi-final, she had faced only 91 balls in five innings. “I didn’t get a chance to bat in the whole tournament,” she told the host broadcasters after her unbeaten innings, “Today when I got the chance I just wanted to utilise it, this opportunity, because today was the day where I wanted to prove myself, and thanks to God, whatever I was thinking, [worked]. Mithali and Deepti [Sharma] scored really well and Veda [Krishnamurthy] scored really well.”In much the way her idol, Virender Sehwag, used to play, Harmanpreet’s thought process at the crease was very simple. “Today’s plan was just watch the ball, hit it hard and this is what I was doing.” But she had to be careful early on. After all, Australia had India at 35 for 2 in the 10th over. “Some areas they were bowling well but I just wanted to hit and rotate the strike.”Harmanpreet’s partner for much of the day was Deepti Sharma, the only Indian woman with a higher score in ODIs. “I just told her to rotate the strike, you don’t have to take the pressure, I was hitting the ball well and I told her to give me the strike and I will take the responsibility and she did a great job.”But there was one moment of miscommunication during theit 137-run stand. On 98, Harmanpreet knocked a ball into the leg side and immediately called for a second run. But Deepti did not seem so keen. Harmanpreet berated Deepti to complete the double, and after a relay throw via the wicketkeeper ended at the non-strikers’ end brought the third umpire into play, she flung her helmet onto the turf and sent another angry volley of words at Deepti. Eventually, the green light came on and Harmanpreet put an arm around her partner to make up for the momentary slip up.”Of course, it was heat of the moment and I said sorry to her because I don’t want to lose my wicket at the that moment and I don’t want to lose her wicket too, I got a little bit angry but we are fine now.”

Sri Lanka Cricket has covered the periphery of the Galle Stadium for the first time since 2012, sparking resentment among local spectators, some of whom would ordinarily watch portions of the game from outside the wire fence.Corrugated iron sheets and SLC branding now obscure the view into the ground from the road outside. The vantage points from the fort ramparts, however, remain unobscured, though that is largely because of their height.”The reason is that when you’re playing the match, everyone can see the movement of vehicles going past, and the players get disturbed,” SLC CEO Ashley de Silva said. “So we thought the best thing is to cover it up.” De Silva also confirmed the board had not fielded any complaints from either players or paying spectators, but that “people need not make any complaints for us to take action.”In addition to those reasons, SLC has also said “new transmission technology” could be affected by sonic and visual disturbances from the road that surrounds the venue. A technician from series broadcaster Ten Sony has refuted that claim, however. There is no known reason why the noise from passing vehicles should interfere with broadcast technology.The covering of the venue has also sparked particular consternation among some Galle residents, because the ground had been a free-to-use public park before the stadium was built. Non-paying spectators have grown accustomed to congregating beneath the trees on the ground’s perimeter to catch passages of play. Those spectators would now either have to go to the fort ramparts for a more distant view of the match, or buy a day ticket, the cheapest of which sells for 200 Sri Lankan rupees ($1.30 approximately).De Silva said sale of tickets was not SLC’s motivation in blocking off the view.

Allrounder Hardik Pandya has been selected for the three-Test series in Sri Lanka, which begins on July 26 in Galle. KL Rahul, who hasn’t played any competitive cricket since India’s Test series against Australia in March because of injury, was back in the squad. M Vijay, too, regained fitness, after wrist and shoulder injuries, and was named in the squad.Rohit Sharma made his Test comeback, too, after being rested for the limited-overs tour of the West Indies. He last played Tests for India during the New Zealand series in October last year, before injuring himself while playing an ODI. His replacement Karun Nair, who scored a triple century against England in December 2016 but made 54 in four innings after that, was left out.Abhinav Mukund, who got one Test in the home season, edged out Shikhar Dhawan as back-up opener, despite the latter’s success in limited-overs formats after his return in the Champions Trophy. Abhinav, however, is also a part of the India A squad for the four-day matches on the tour of South Africa in July – August and his availability for the A tour could be in doubt. The Test series in Sri Lanka is scheduled to end on August 16, while the four-day games in South Africa begin from August 12. Nair will lead the India A side in the four-day matches against South Africa A.Pandya’s maiden call-up to the Test side came in November last year for the home series against England. However, he hurt his right shoulder while training later that month and was withdrawn from the squad. Pandya found himself in the Test squad again for the first two matches against Australia later this year.The bowling chose itself with the two best bowlers in the world – R Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja – being bolstered by the presence of Kuldeep Yadav. The four specialist quicks were Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Mohammed Shami, Ishant Sharma and Umesh Yadav.India also announced a two-day warm-up match to be played in Colombo on July 21 and 22.India squad: Virat Kohli (capt.), M Vijay, KL Rahul, Cheteshwar Pujara, Ajinkya Rahane, Rohit Sharma, R Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja, Wriddhiman Saha (wk), Ishant Sharma, Umesh Yadav, Hardik Pandya, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Mohammed Shami, Kuldeep Yadav, Abhinav Mukund.

ScorecardAlastair Cook was one of two Essex century-makers•Getty Images

Centuries by Alastair Cook and Ryan ten Doeschate steadied Essex to a fourth Royal London Cup victory after a hat-trick by Jerome Taylor had ripped the heart out of their top order.From the depths of 19 for 3, Cook and ten Doeschate ensured Essex posted a competitive 295 off their 50 overs – and that proved too much for Sussex, who finished 11 runs short.Cook took his total to 317 runs in five one-day innings with a 131-ball 109, his second three-figure score of the season. He shared a fifth-wicket stand of 142 with ten Doeschate, who was run out off the last ball for 102 for 91 overs.Chris Nash and Stiaan van Zyl both scored sixties in Sussex’s reply, but no one went on to make the big scores that Cook and ten Doeschate had earlier.Sussex failed to capitalise on a great start when West Indies international Taylor struck with the first three balls of his third over to underline why both captains would have put the other team in.Varun Chopra was the first Essex batsman to go, chasing a wide one to give Michael Burgess a diving catch behind for two.Tom Westley followed, attempting to withdraw his bat but only managing to offer a faint touch to the same combination for his second golden duck in successive innings.Adam Wheater was the hat-trick victim when trapped plumb lbw on the back-foot playing down the wrong line.Taylor’s fourth ball of the over, however, was eased through midwicket by Dan Lawrence for four to offer some inspiration to the shellshocked Essex batsman. When Taylor was rested after his opening six-over salvo he had figures of 3 for 23. By the end he had been on the receiving end of a battering as his 10 overs went for 65 runs.The fourth-wicket pair of Cook and Lawrence set painstakingly about repairing the damage. They put on 65 runs in 15 overs before Lawrence pushed a return catch to spinner Danny Briggs’s fifth ball for 34.When he was 38, ten Doeschate survived what looked a comfortable caught and bowled chance. He hit the ball almost vertically in the air, so high into the stratosphere that Shahzad was able to race down to the striker’s end before dropping the plummeting ball right by the stumps.Luke Wright, Sussex’s captain, did not hide his displeasure. “It came down to that moment when it’s never a bowler’s catch,” he said. “It goes up and it’s straight to a keeper with big gloves on and then he would take the catch.”I think everyone in the ground was shouting, ‘keepers!’ But, look, the bowler wanted it and unfortunately he dropped. At that point it’s a big moment and Tendo made use of it.”Sussex were made to pay as he accelerated with a succession of bludgeoning boundaries mixed with tip-and-run singles turned into twos.Ten Doeschate had just passed fifty – from 57 balls – when Cook swept a hip-high delivery from Shahzad for his 12th four to reach a 122-ball century. He was finally out when he cut Jofra Archer backward of square to Shahzad.Ashar Zaidi had hit Wiese for a straight six before he went for another and was held above his head by Briggs on the square-leg boundary. Ten Doeschate swatted a short delivery from Archer to reach three-figures from the penultimate ball of the innings and was run out from the last. Essex had added 99 in the last 10 overs.Nash and Wright played sensibly as they laid the foundations for the chase with a first-wicket stand of 67 in 14 overs. But the ball after Wright had driven Jamie Porter for a flat, straight six, he hooked straight to Paul Walter at deep fine leg for 32.Harry Finch lasted four balls before he went lbw to one from Zaidi that straightened. After which Sussex became becalmed for a spell, and Nash and Stiaan van Zyl went 36 deliveries between boundaries, during which time they managed just nine singles.Nash went for a 90-ball 66 when he played a cross-batted shot to Matt Quinn and was caught at mid-on. But van Zyl passed fifty from 60 balls with a lofted drive to long leg for four, followed by a six over long-off, before he was caught on the ropes by Walter for 61.Half the side were out with 108 still required from 10 overs when Burgess was bowled by Simon Harmer. Laurie Evans perished to Cook at wide mid-on for 30 and Wiese fell to another attempted big-hit at long-off by which time the asking rate had passed 12 an over.Sussex gained a second wind when Quinn’s nine-ball over went for 21 runs. Walter restored order with the first ball of the next over when he bowled Briggs. But Archer smashed his second six before Walter ended the 21-ball slog-fest by having the Barbadian caught on the square-leg boundary for 45 and then claimed his third wicket by bowling Taylor.

Essex have followed Middlesex in announcing that they will not be supporting the ECB’s proposed change to its constitution. The amendment to the Articles of Association is required to allow the board to bring in a new, eight-team T20 tournament from 2020.Essex’s chairman, John Faragher, described the new competition as likely to “exclude large area of the country from involvement” and therefore going against the ECB’s stated objective of growing the game.”We do not support the changes to the Articles of Association and consequently the proposed new T20 competition,” Faragher said. “It is essential that the County Championship, domestic 50-over and T20 competitions are encouraged to grow, and they must be protected.”We recognise and support the ‘Cricket Unleashed’ strategy and indeed Essex County Cricket Club has an enviable record in producing England players and captains. We are focused on expanding cricket in Essex, East Anglia and Metropolitan London, ensuring there are opportunities for all age and ability groups, male and female to be actively involved in the game.”We believe that as a result of the proposed changes, these opportunities will be reduced, that our income overall will suffer and the first-class game will be diminished, in contradiction to the ECB’s objective, which is to grow the game in this country – an objective that is unlikely to be advanced by a competition which would exclude large areas of the country from any involvement in it.”The statement follows consultation between the Essex board and club members. Essex were among the 16 counties (and MCC) who voted to explore the ECB’s city-based T20 option last September, although they have been vocal in saying that did not constitute unequivocal backing, as well as arguing Chelmsford should be considered to host a team.The ECB needs 31 of its 41 constituent members to vote through the change, which would remove the requirement that all 18 counties must be involved in any new competition. Middlesex were the first to come out in opposition last week but several other counties have already given their assent to the proposals, which would see them awarded payments of £1.3m a year by way of compensation for the use of players and facilities.

A slew of former international and first-class players have been enlisted as consultants to work with USA men’s, women’s and junior players at a specialist preparation camp from April 6-9 in Houston, Texas in an effort to give them a leg up on other teams in preparation for their respective ICC qualification events later this year. Among the new arrivals expected this weekend are former Australian Test spinner Beau Casson, former Sheffield Shield wicketkeeper Peter Anderson and former West Indies fast bowler Mervyn Dillon.Casson, 34, has been an assistant coach with New South Wales and Sydney Thunder since 2015 after being forced into early retirement in 2011 due to a heart condition. Dillon, 42, played 38 Tests for West Indies and ended his first-class career with Trinidad & Tobago in 2008. He has made regular appearances around the USA playing in private T20 tournaments in recent years and began pursuing a Cricket Australia Level Three coaching badge in Florida in 2012.Anderson, 55, has forged a successful career at Associate level after a 56-match first-class career with Queensland and South Australia. He coached Papua New Guinea for two years culminating in a fourth place finish at the 2014 World Cup Qualifier in New Zealand that secured ODI status for PNG. From there, he became the head of Afghanistan’s national cricket academy for two years. Most recently, Anderson took over as Cayman Islands coach and technical director last summer, and helped them defeat Argentina in a regional qualifier this February to gain a place at ICC World Cricket League Division Five, scheduled for September in South Africa.Specialist fielding coach Trevor Penney, who worked with USA’s senior players at a camp in Indianapolis last September ahead of ICC WCL Division Four, has been brought back for another stint with the USA men’s team. Unlike the other three consultant coaches, who are being utilized for this weekend only, Penney is expected to stay with USA as a consultant assistant coach until the end of May as part of their staff for ICC WCL Division Three in Uganda, working alongside head coach Pubudu Dassanayake and assistant Anand Tummala.Former India international Thiru Kumaran, who coached the USA U-19 squad in 2015 at the U-19 Americas Qualifier in Bermuda and U-19 World Cup Qualifier in Malaysia, has been brought back to continue working with junior players. Kumaran, 41, is currently based in Dallas, Texas where he runs a youth academy.Aside from the men’s team, who are targeting a top two finish in Uganda next month to move a step closer to the 2018 World Cup Qualifier, key tournaments for the women’s and U-19 teams are also coming up in 2017. This weekend’s camp is being used as a launching pad for each team’s preparations with six players from each squad coming to the camp to train alongside the entire men’s national squad.The USA Women were given a wildcard spot into the 2017 ICC Europe Qualifier where they will play Scotland and Netherlands this August for a chance to advance into the 2018 Women’s World T20 Qualifier. The USA U-19 team will head to Toronto for the U-19 Americas Qualifier in July as they attempt to qualify for the U-19 World Cup for the first time since 2010.

Scorecard and ball-by-ball detailsHasan Ali bowled back-to-back maidens and picked up two wickets to wreck West Indies•AFP

In a nutshellA no-contest between Pakistan’s bowling attack and the West Indies battling line-up. There were 66 dot balls in the innings – that’s 11 overs out of 20 – and eight of those dots were wickets. Hasan Ali bowled back-to-back maidens and finished with match-winning figures of 4-2-12-2.Chadwick Walton, with 40, and Carlos Brathwaite, who made 37, his new career best, bettering the score he had made at the World T20 final, dragged West Indies to 124 for 8. It was nowhere near enough. Although the pitch at Queens Park Oval was being used for its third straight match, there weren’t enough signs of the ball slowing up. And Pakistan’s top order capitalised. Ahmed Shehzad struck 53 off 45 balls to ensure a seven-wicket victory.Where the game was wonThe middle overs. Yes they exist in T20. For further proof, Hasan did most of his damage through inswingers, which for him, come out best with an old ball. Three out of his four overs came after the first 10 when West Indies fell from a respectable 59 for 2 to a silly 87 for 6. A slide like that might have been justified if there had been a spree of magic deliveries or an invasion of pitch demons. But all Hasan did was bowl full and straight. He understood that was enough by watching the West Indian batsmen set up on leg stump, and wait on the back foot, preferring to have room to free the arms and flat bat sixes.The men who who won itHasan had been hit for a six off the third delivery he bowled. The punishment was dealt to a good length ball – the same kind with which he profited later in the innings. That he still stuck to his strengths against a team known for its big hitting was a sign of the 23-year old’s self-belief. It helped, though, that when he came on for his second spell – 2-2-0-2 – West Indies were stuck in a rut. They were falling behind in the innings and tried to hit their way out of trouble. Not a sensible thing to do against a bowler harnessing a little bit of reverse swing.The instigator of the choke, though, was legspinner Shadab Khan. He also dismissed the opposition’s best batsman on the day – Walton – by teasing him into big shot that only went as far as long-on. The reason for that was the dip the 18-year old generated. In much the same way, he deceived Jason Holder in the 16th over and though he didn’t get Kieron Pollard, he was beating his outside edge repeatedly.Moment of the matchMarlon Samuels had just struck back-to-back sixes. He has turned low totals into match-winning ones before and has had phenomenal success in finals both actual and virtual. There were no such heroics on Sunday because, on the heels of being involved in a bizarre run-out, his middle stump took a beating. Hasan’s wicket-to-wicket line was poorly negotiated by Samuels, who stayed leg side of the ball and attempted a lame glide to third man. His knees buckled and as he sank to the floor, there was almost a look of begrudging approval of a delivery that had been too good for him.Where they standPakistan clinched the four-match T20I series 3-1. The two teams resume their limited-overs battle in the three-match ODI series starting in Guyana on April 7.