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The pressure ramped up on Mikel Arteta's first-choice 'keeper as he made a pair of terrible mistakes at Kenilworth Road

Declan Rice scored a dramatic 97th-minute winner to spare David Raya's blushes and send Arsenal five points clear at the top of the Premier League following a thrilling 4-3 win at Luton on Tuesday night.

Two awful second-half errors from Raya looked to have seen his side drop two crucial points in the title race at Kenilworth Road, only for Rice to pop up deep into stoppage time to plant a header past Thomas Kaminski and spark wild celebrations in the away end.

It was an incredible end to a crazy game which swung back and forth all evening. Gabriel Martinelli had given Arsenal the lead, but Gabriel Osho levelled soon after with a free header from a corner, only for Gabriel Jesus to make it 2-1 seconds before the break.

At that point the Gunners appeared well placed to go on and secure a comfortable win, but Raya flapped at a corner early in the second half to allow Elijah Adebayo to equalise before letting a Ross Barkley shot squirm under his body soon after.

It was another awful moment for the Arsenal keeper, one that will see Mikel Arteta come in for even more questions about his decision to replace Aaron Ramsdale with the on-loan Brentford stopper.

But Havertz levelled soon after before Rice sealed all three points with seconds remaining to secure a remarkable victory.

GOAL rates Arsenal's players from Kenilworth Road…

Getty ImagesGoalkeeper & Defence

David Raya (3/10):

Couldn't do anything with Osho's well placed header, but was beaten far too easily by Adebayo for the second goal and then let Barkley's shot squirm under his body. Really poor and two more errors that will do little to silence his doubters.

Ben White (7/10):

Put under pressure early in the first half, but responded well and was a threat down the right. Excellent cross to set up Jesus.

William Saliba (7/10):

Never really looked troubled. Cruised through the game as he always does.

Gabriel Magalhaes (7/10):

Took a couple of big challenges early on which angered him, but soon calmed down to form his usual commanding partnership with Saliba.

Jakub Kiwior (6/10):

Didn't look entirely comfortable operating in the left-back role. Luton looked to press him quickly and he struggled at times in possession.

AdvertisementGetty ImagesMidfield

Declan Rice (8/10):

Another strong performance. Looked to be the one calm head at times amid all the madness. Popped up with the crucial winner right at the death.

Kai Havertz (8/10):

Another goal for Arsenal's summer signing from Chelsea. After a slow start he is really starting to find his feet. Competed well all evening and showed some nice touches. Impressive.

Martin Odegaard (7/10):

Really grew into the first half after a quiet start and linked up well with White and Saka. Wasn't as influential after half-time, but popped up with the cross right at the end for Rice to head home.

Getty ImagesAttack

Bukayo Saka (8/10):

Lovely assist for Martinelli's goal and then produced a sublime pass for White in the build-up to Jesus' second. Another game when he makes a difference for Arsenal.

Gabriel Jesus (8/10):

You could see he was getting rattled by some of the tackles that were coming his way. He kept his head though and scored Arsenal's second having also play a key role in Martinelli's opener. Great play to set up Havertz for the third as well.

Gabriel Martinelli (7/10):

Took a big hit early on and never really looked comfortable after that. Was still alert enough to open the scoring though in the first half. Replaced by Trossard early in the second.

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Getty ImagesSubs & Manager

Leandro Trossard (6/10):

Looked bright when he came on and helped Arsenal dominate the closing stages, but couldn't find a way through.

Oleksandr Zinchenko (7/10):

Almost set up a goal for Havertz late on and then played a key role in Rice's dramatic winner.

Mikel Arteta (6/10):

His subs worked well, but he will have to face yet more questions about his decision to bring in Raya over Aaron Ramsdale.

Iain O’Brien and Ajit Agarkar discuss some of the recommended changes to playing conditions in one-day cricket made by the ICC Cricket Committee

ESPNcricinfo staff20-May-201514:34

Iain O’Brien and Ajit Agarkar discuss the ICC cricket committee’s proposals

On allowing five fielders outside the 30-yard circle for the last ten overs and removing the batting Powerplay.
Iain O’Brien: The two catchers rule is interesting but I don’t have issues with it. I think attacking captains will still keep those men in. The five fielders in the last ten overs was always going to happen. The batting Powerplay was anyway mostly taken in the 36th over. So, it doesn’t change much. They all seem pretty obvious ones to me.On the last ten overs skewing the balance between bat and ball.
Ajit Agarkar: The World Cup was played in Australia and New Zealand where you expect help for the bowlers. Despite that, with the two new balls, the run rate in the last ten overs has gone up. Every captain has said that you need five fielders outside the ring. I would have wanted them do it for the other 40 overs as well. Now with four fielders outside the ring, those 30 middle overs are like a Powerplay. Reverse swing has gone out of the game and the big bats have hampered bowlers.On making it a more level playing field for the bowlers
O’Brien: We want a level playing field. The low-scoring games were some of the most interesting games in the World Cup where scores could be chased or teams at least had a chance of chasing scores. The games which had over a 100 runs scored in the last ten overs were not close games because such scores rarely get chased. Two new balls is a massive thing for me. I suggested a change where you have two new balls for 35 overs and use one of those two balls for the rest of the 15 overs. It gives the bowler a chance of reverse swing and evens out the contest.On free-hits for all no balls
Agarkar: It is silly to be honest. You can understand it for front-foot no-balls because it was brought in to increase discipline but to have it for all no-balls does not make sense as you’re expecting the bowler to be 100% accurate which is not possible. Even with high full tosses you get banned after two such deliveries, so it is a strange decision. No bowler tries to bowl a beamer intentionally. With the two new balls, the ball does not dip sometimes and you end up bowling a full toss. I don’t really like that rule.O’Brien: If a batsman makes a mistake and a catch is dropped, he is not penalised. So, why penalise the bowler for a small mistake? The front foot one is okay but what about no balls where an extra fielder is outside the circle or when you knock over the bails at the non-strikers end in your action. It is reducing the bowler to being a machine.On a more prominent seam on the white ball
Agarkar: Even if you alter the ball, you have to find one that lasts for the duration of the innings. It is very vague and I don’t think there is an issue with the existing balls. You don’t want a ball which is hooping all over the place.
O’Brien: I think it has got more to do with readdressing the balance between bat and ball.On the size of the bats and the boundaries
Agarkar: The size of the boundaries has to be the biggest they can possible be. You can also have a thicker outfield to slow down the outfield. At the moment, it is a boundary the moment the ball beats the fielder in the ring.
O’Brien: I have no issues with the size of the bat. I have an issue with bats that have two pieces of wood which are not supposed to be there. That has made a big difference.On playing Test cricket in ‘evening hours’
O’Brien: I’m not a fan of it, the pink ball is not up to it. It goes soft very quickly and does not bounce which stops the seam movement.
Agarkar: I played a Ranji trophy final under lights which was bizarre. We used two white balls with the option of taking a new ball every 40 overs and a compulsory change after 50 overs. The scores were 630 and 590. The ball is a big concern.

Paul Farbrace has been named as Sri Lanka coach and will take up his post on January 1

ESPNcricinfo staff20-Dec-2013Paul Farbrace, the former Sri Lanka assistant coach, has been appointed the new Sri Lanka coach on a two-year contract, starting on January 1.Farbrace, who will shortly finish his tenure with Yorkshire’s second XI, had been one of the original 11 applicants for the job, before withdrawing, then renewing his interest in the role.He takes the job ahead of current assistant coach Marvan Atapattu and Sussex club coach Mark Davis, who had been the other shortlisted candidates.”The Executive Committee of Sri Lanka Cricket arrived at this decision after engagement with the committee appointed to nominate the most suitable candidate for SLC,” a statement said. “The final decision was made after much deliberation as a selection of Sri Lankan candidates showed commendable credentials as applicants to this post.”Farbrace was assistant coach under Trevor Bayliss from 2007 to 2009, a period in which Sri Lanka rose to No. 2 in the Test rankings and progressed to a World Twenty20 final. He had left the job in order to become Kent’s director of cricket, but said he had a “strong affinity for Sri Lanka” at the time of his application for the job.He was wounded along with seven Sri Lankan players in March 2009 when a dozen gunmen opened fire on their bus in Lahore, Pakistan. He left his post four months after the attack, in which he was struck by a piece of shrapnel in his right arm, and became Kent’s director of cricket. He later moved to Yorkshire, stating that he wanted to rediscover his joy in developing young players.His first assignment will be at the Asia Cup in Bangladesh in February. He will then coach the team at the next World Twenty20, which is also due to be held in Bangladesh in March-April.Atapattu is believed to have been the strongest challenger to Farbrace in the final discussions. But there were doubts about whether he could establish full control of a side which still features his former teammates Mahela Jayawardene, Kumar Sangakkara and Tillakaratne Dilshan. Jayawardene had also been Atapattu’s captain from 2005 to 2007.The committee to nominate the coach had been headed by former Sri Lanka cricketer and club stalwart Ranjit Fernando, and included chief selector Sanath Jayasuriya, secretary Nishantha Ranatunga and head of coaching Jerome Jayaratne.The current coach, Graham Ford is expected complete the ongoing series of three Tests, five one-day internationals and two Twenty20 games against Pakistan in the United Arab Emirates.Yorkshire confirmed that they received an official approach from SLC on December 7 and reluctantly agreed to release a man whose work with the next generation of players at Headingley had been widely commended.”Paul’s departure is a loss,” said Yorkshire chairman Colin Graves. “His dedication in developing the careers of some of our young players, who are now coming through the ranks, is a major part in moving the club forward to achieve its aims and ambitions.”Farbrace joined Yorkshire as part of a coaching shake-up which saw Jason Gillespie take over as first-team coach in 2010. His return to Headingley will be relatively swift: Sri Lanka face England in the opening Test series of the summer next June.”Yorkshire’s director of cricket, Martyn Moxon, said: “Paul has made a huge impact during his tenure at Headingley. He is an outstanding coach and deserves to take on this role with Sri Lanka Cricket. His expertise in developing junior talent has seen him contribute to provide exciting players for the long-term future of the club.”

Newcomer Dilshan Munaweera, looking to fix his spot as a long-term opener in the Sri Lanka squad, will face a stern test against South Africa on Saturday

Andrew Fernando in Hambantota21-Sep-2012One game into the World Twenty20, it is clear Sri Lanka have invested a great deal in Dilshan Munaweera. The team has split up a successful opening pair, moving their best batsman Mahela Jayawardene to a less favoured batting position to accommodate Munaweera in his familiar spot. It would have been easy for the seniors to pull rank and ask Munaweera to inject energy into a middle order carrying two accumulators, but they’ve been careful to make his international baptism a gentle one. Largesse towards youngsters has been a hallmark of a side that understand the leap Sri Lanka players must make when they move from the local circuit to international cricket.It also emphasises Munaweera’s importance to Sri Lanka’s campaign. Dinesh Chandimal waits on the sidelines to replace the first batsman to falter, but if he joins a lineup already looking short of firepower, Sri Lanka’s finishers may have to work even harder towards the close. With one of the most aggressive top threes in the tournament, Sri Lanka have banked on sustained hitting during the Powerplay, and Munaweera must play his part for the strategy to prove worthwhile.Saturday’s match shapes as the biggest test of Munaweera’s career. Dale Steyn and Morne Morkel have bloodied more hardened men than he, and a nervous start to international cricket and an awkward first dismissal cannot have boosted Munaweera’s confidence greatly. Moreover, South Africa will have studied him closely in their team meetings. They will know he is, at present, over-reliant on boundaries to make a score. They will know he cuts and pulls well but drives poorly. They will endeavour to keep him on strike, knowing he has trouble rotating it, and the customary dose of newbie-abuse will no doubt be gleefully given as well.”It’s always going to be tough, especially when you’re an opening batsman,” captain Mahela Jayawardene said of the trial awaiting Munaweera. “It’s a great experience for him to play one of the two best bowling combinations in the game right now. He has Dilshan at the other end to guide him and a couple of other senior batsmen to follow.”Not only will Munaweera’s mettle be tested by bowlers much faster and capable of generating more bounce than he has encountered at home and on A-team tours, he will also be playing on a foreign surface. The Bloomfield Cricket Club pitch he has thrived on has a reputation for being low and slow. Both pitches in Hambantota so far have had plenty of bounce and carry, and South Africa’s seamers will squeeze every inch of movement available as well.It is perhaps unfair to expect Munaweera to pass the test with flying colours, given his inexperience and the gulf between domestic and top-level cricket he must learn to bridge in the next few weeks. A young Mahela Jayawardene was among the most complete batsmen Sri Lanka’s system ever produced, and even he was forced to make drastic improvements in his early years to compete against the finest.”For me Wasim Akram was the guy I struggled against early on because of his quality and variations,” Jayawardene said. “Every time I played against him early I struggled early on. Every time after the game he would pat me on my back and say keep learning, and that’s what I did. It was a good experience for me. I was one of the victims of his hat-trick early on. After 12 years of international cricket he started getting hat-tricks against Sri Lanka. It was tough playing him.”One of Sri Lanka’s biggest selection regrets has been the meandering career of Chamara Kapugedara. No one can doubt the batsman’s talent, having seen it in spades in domestic cricket as well as in patches for the national team, but perhaps his failure to grow into a match-winner was hampered by inconsistency in selection and a tendency to bat him out of position. So far Munaweera far has avoided that fate.”The good thing is that he’s got a free hand. When you have a youngster coming into the set-up, there’s not much pressure on you. You just go out there and enjoy yourself and back yourself to play your game. That’s what is exciting about young cricketers coming in. We’re just going to give him the license to go out there and enjoy himself.”A poor outing against South Africa’s pace may not warrant Munaweera’s exclusion at the Super Eights stage, but it may earn a him a reputation for being a soft target. He will be watched, analysed, and attacks will formulate plans specifically for him in the coming weeks. It is a different world of pressure at the top, and Munaweera will get a healthy taste of that on Saturday. How he responds in that game and the matches to follow may not shape his career, but having provided Munaweera with the best chance to succeed, Sri Lanka will hope their investment pays off.

Kenya will aim to use the World T20 qualifiers to springboard back to the top table of world cricket

ESPNcricinfo staff05-Mar-2012Kenya will aim to use the World T20 qualifier to springboard back to the top level in world cricket. They have fallen into decline since being regarded as the best non-Test nation at the turn of the century and now look to return to former glories at the tournament in the UAE, which begins on March 13.Kenya reached the semi-finals of the 2003 World Cup, losing to India, but the banning of Maurice Odumbe in 2004 began a decline that sent Kenyan cricket spiralling into the wilderness. Their recovery leading up to the 2011 World Cup also proved a false dawn, with Kenya losing all six of their matches and descending into another series of reforms. They are now bottom of the ICC ODI rankings.But with the old guard removed and 30-year-old captain Collins Obuya the oldest member of the squad, Kenya could finally be about to mount a challenge to scale world cricket once more.”It is very important for us to reclaim our pride and place as one of the top Associate sides and show that we are a force to be reckoned with,” Obuya said. “Whatever happened last year was a great lesson and that’s why we moving on from the debacles by rebuilding the team. We want to make a statement with our performance and even if we don’t qualify we want to have positives that we can draw from.”Kenya have been in drawn in group B of the World T20 qualifiers and will face Ireland once more. The countries met in a Twenty20 series in Mombasa in February, and Ireland won all three matches.Obuya is less familiar with his side’s other opponents. “We know very little about Oman and Italy as this will be our very first time against them,” he said. “But we are not taking these teams lightly as it tends to be the unknowns that cause the upsets in these events and we hope to apply ourselves well when we play them.”We watched USA play in 2010 when we met in the last World T20 Qualifier, they are a good side and we hope our game will be a good one. As for Namibia, Scotland and Uganda they are all sides we have met several times and they will all provide tough matches for us.”

Australia are confident Shaun Marsh will be fit to play the third Test against India despite being struck down with gastro

Brydon Coverdale09-Jan-2012Australia are confident Shaun Marsh will be fit to play the third Test against India despite being struck down with gastro. Marsh flew home to Perth on Sunday following Australia’s victory in Sydney and he was scheduled to speak at a media conference on Monday, but was unable to do so due to his illness.The Australian squad was due to convene in Perth on Monday afternoon ahead of the Test, which begins on Friday at the WACA, where Australia will be aiming to take a 3-0 lead. Michael Hussey, a fellow Western Australian, said Marsh would be keen to play his first Test at his home ground.”I’m sure he’s fine,” Hussey told reporters in Perth. “He’ll be at training tomorrow I’m sure with the boys and preparing as well as he can. He’ll be really looking forward to playing on his home ground. His first home Test. The WACA crowd always give the local guys a huge welcome and a louder roar than any other player, so he’s got plenty of motivation to play exceptionally well in this Test.”Marsh has had a lean time in the first two Tests, with scores of 0, 3 and 0 in the victories in Melbourne and Sydney. It was quite a change from the first three Tests of his career: he made a century on debut in Sri Lanka in September, followed by 81 in his second Test and a fighting 44 in Cape Town, where he provided the only serious support for the captain Michael Clarke during his century.However, a serious back complaint that he picked up in Cape Town sidelined Marsh for the next six weeks, and he returned to the Test side after just one Twenty20 match for the Perth Scorchers. But Hussey believes Marsh can regain his best form on his home ground at the WACA, where he has averaged 45.02 in first-class cricket.”I wouldn’t be surprised if he performs very well in this Test match,” Hussey said. “He prepares very well with his training leading up to games. It’s always tough when you have been out of the game for over a month to be able to come straight back into Test match cricket and perform straight away.”It does take a bit of time, but he has been working very hard and he’s been hitting the ball very well in the nets. So it’s just a case of him being able to get through that first half an hour of his innings and then if he gets a start, I’m sure he’ll want to turn it into a big hundred.”Marsh has been trusted with the No.3 position after Ricky Ponting’s move down to second drop, although the New South Wales batsman Usman Khawaja is hovering on the fringes should Marsh continue to struggle at home. Australia’s coach, Mickey Arthur, said Marsh had been tentative in Melbourne and Sydney but that he was worth persevering with at the top of the order.

Ireland’s warm-up plans for the ICC World Twenty20 have been thrown into chaos after South Africa A pulled out of the remainder of their tour

Ger Siggins27-Aug-2012Ireland’s warm-up plans for the ICC World Twenty20 have been thrown into chaos after South Africa A pulled out of the remainder of their tour due to the threat of more poor weather. The month-long visit of the South Africans ended early after the first of four Twenty20 games was rained-off at Oak Hill on Monday.”It’s not a decision we’ve taken lightly but given the amount of cricket that’s been lost on the trip already and with the further likelihood of further disruption, we felt it was necessary to give the players a chance to prepare for the ICC World Twenty20,” Vincent Barnes, the South Africa A coach, said.”It’s been an incredibly frustrating tour for everyone concerned with the weather, but I’d like to thank Cricket Ireland for their hospitality and understanding in what was a difficult decision for ourselves.”Ireland coach, Phil Simmons, said: “There’s no doubt that it’s a serious blow to our preparations for the ICC World Twenty20.”But we will have two weeks in Sri Lanka before our games against Australia and West Indies, and we of course have warm-up fixtures against Sri Lanka A, Bangladesh and Zimbabwe in Colombo.”The decision by South Africa to abort the tour is unprecedented and deeply disappointing to Irish supporters. The last two T20 games of the series were to have provided a gala opening to the new international stadium in Malahide.Cricket Ireland chief executive, Warren Deutrom, said: “We fully appreciate that the priority for Cricket South Africa is to give players that might be involved in the ICC World T20 every opportunity to get meaningful practice beforehand, which we cannot guarantee here, so we completely appreciate their decision.”It goes without saying that we are disappointed for everyone, not least the players of both sides, our sponsors RSA and the hosting venues of Malahide and Oak Hill that have put in so much effort but have been ultimately defeated by the awful weather.”Although the forecast for the second half of the week is much better, the long-range view for Sunday is uncertain, while the inability of the players to train meaningfully before then and risk of possible injury is too big to take.”Simmons was forced into a late rethink of his plans for Sri Lanka, already hit by the injury to allrounder John Mooney.”It’s been a frustrating season for all concerned and the South African tour has been particularly hard hit by the elements,” he said. “If we’re unable to train outdoors this week we’ll look to go to North County and have indoor sessions before we leave for Sri Lanka next Tuesday.”The South Africa A tour was scheduled to provide 15 days of high-class competition for Ireland’s home-based players, but the weather refused to co-operate. Just 490 overs of play were possible before the tour was cancelled.Play was possible on only two days of each of the four-day games, both of which ended in draws; all three 50-over games were affected by the weather – one was abandoned and the other two ended in D/L wins for South Africa A; and the first T20 match was abandoned without a ball bowled.

Kane Williamson has been included in the Test squad for the home series against West Indies and is likely to play in Dunedin, pending a final fitness clearance

ESPNcricinfo staff28-Nov-2013New Zealand batsman Kane Williamson has been included in the Test squad for the home series against West Indies and is likely to play the first match in Dunedin beginning on December 3, pending a final fitness clearance. Williamson had returned home mid-way through the tour of Bangladesh after breaking his thumb, and also missed the limited-overs series in Sri Lanka.”Kane has been in the nets batting and bowling and getting his intensity levels up,” general manager national selection, Bruce Edgar, said. “We’re confident he should be right come Tuesday.”The 13-man squad also included fast bowler Tim Southee, who had ankle surgery in July. Southee played the limited-overs games in Bangladesh, and took match figures of 6 for 79 in his most recent Plunket Shield match for Northern Districts. Allrounder Corey Anderson was also in the squad despite suffering a rib injury in Sri Lanka.Otago batsman Aaron Redmond also made a comeback as injury cover for Williamson. Redmond last played a Test in 2008, but has been in good form of late. “Aaron has made a good start to the Plunket Shield to date, and on top of the 67 he scored yesterday for the New Zealand XI we felt he was the best top-order batting cover,” Edgar said.Redmond was preferred ahead of Dean Brownlie, who was dropped on the tour of Bangladesh, and Tom Latham. Brownlie had been a fixture in the middle order this year, but five lean Tests against England – where his highest score – 36 cost him his position last month and his start to the domestic season has not been enough to earn a recall.Squad: Brendon McCullum (capt), Corey Anderson, Trent Boult, Doug Bracewell, Peter Fulton, Aaron Redmond, Hamish Rutherford, Ish Sodhi, Tim Southee, Ross Taylor, Neil Wagner, BJ Watling, Kane Williamson

Although the scoreboard only read four wickets, New Zealand could be highly satisfied with the opening day of the series at Lord’s having restricted England to a run-rate of two-an-over.

The Report by Andrew McGlashan at Lord's16-May-2013
Live scorecard and ball-by-ball detailsTrent Boult produced two excellent deliveries to remove Alastair Cook and Jonathan Trott•Getty ImagesAlthough the scoreboard only read four wickets, New Zealand could be highly satisfied with the opening day of the series at Lord’s having restricted England to a run-rate of two-an-over. Each of the top four bedded in before being chipped out by a supremely accurate bowling attack who were again led astutely by their proactive captain.It is fair to say that Brendon McCullum would have swapped one of the wickets today for that final scalp in Auckland six weeks ago, but New Zealand know the importance of backing up their performance at home with a strong showing overseas and they have ensured that England will not be sitting too comfortably overnight.Trent Boult claimed two key scalps in the afternoon session, due reward for high-class, crafty swing bowling. Alastair Cook, who had problems against him and Neil Wagner in New Zealand, pushed at one side off stump and Jonathan Trott – shaping to play a significant innings on a ground where he averages over 70 – was brilliantly caught low at third slip five minutes before tea.Trott’s dismissal will have left one New Zealander feeling especially relieved; Bruce Martin had given him a life before he got off the mark when he spilled a return catch. It meant that Joe Root, who had never played at Lord’s, emerged for his first home Test innings in a tricky situation five minutes before a break but was as assured as any of the England batsman while compiling a jaunty 25 during the final session before rain lopped off the last 10 overs.Three down would have been a solid enough – if unspectacular – day for England but the removal of Ian Bell, 10 balls before the second new ball became available, ensured New Zealand could end the day the happier side. Bell had produced a display of considerable self-restraint before being drawn into pushing at a ball (his 133rd) angled across him. It was a poor shot at a poor time, but nothing less than Wagner deserved for pounding in on a fairly unforgiving surface.Although the sun shone for the opening day of the international summer, batting was not a simple prospect. But both captains got their wish at the toss with McCullum saying he would have bowled. Firstly there was swing, the subject of much debate in the build-up, then there was a pitch on the sluggish side that made timing the ball difficult and an outfield – relayed over the winter following the Olympic Archery – which deflated value for shots on a ground where the ball normally races away. A tally of 15 boundaries in 80 overs was testament to that.Spin, historically, does not play a major role in May Tests but there were signs that it could have an influential role in this match. Martin, who only had his place confirmed on the morning of the game when New Zealand resisted the temptation of an all-seam attack, tweaked his first ball past Nick Compton’s edge which was just enough to plant a few doubts.But it could not really explain Compton’s dismissal when, completely out of character to the rest of his innings, he advanced down the pitch to try and drive over cover but only succeeded in toe-ending a catch to point. The shot came on the back of four consecutive maidens with England finding it difficult to rotate the strike. Martin should have made it two successes before lunch but shelled the chance, chest-height to his right, when Trott drove a fraction early.The rare early boundaries that did come went to Cook – a clip and a cut – but he had to work hard to survive Tim Southee’s opening spell from the Pavilion End. Southee and Boult found consistent swing and though it was not always on target it was enough to keep the batsmen wary. After lunch it was Boult’s turn to harass Cook, the movement enough to make him unsure what to play and what to leave, and he found the outside edge which was superbly held by BJ Watling having realised the ball would not have carried to first slip.Following his reprieve, Trott produced some of the best timing on show as he flicked strongly off his pads whenever the bowlers drifted and also drove strongly through the off side. Unlike overseas, where the Kookaburra ball will stop swinging after about 20 overs, the Dukes offers encouragement for much longer and Boult, brought back for a burst before tea, made one jag across Trott which, although he tried to play with soft hands, just carried to Brownlie. In New Zealand, Brownlie had a 50-50 series in the slips but this was a cracking grab.Amid the blocking and leaving there was the occasional gem; Bell’s cover drive off Wagner was a particular highlight while Root, playing with a little more intent that others, took a rare boundary off Martin with a strong sweep. When a heavy shower arrived Root was with his Yorkshire team-mate Jonny Bairstow. They are the future of England’s batting. This will be a good test of their credentials.

Dale Benkenstein will captain MCC in the Champion County fixture against Warwickshire in Abu Dhabi

ESPNcricinfo staff23-Jan-2013Dale Benkenstein will captain MCC in the Champion County fixture against Warwickshire in Abu Dhabi, while Rahul Dravid and Shaun Tait will add some star quality for the Emirates Airline Twenty20 event that precedes the four-day game.As has become the norm, the Champion County match will be played under floodlights at the Sheikh Zayed Stadium. Benkenstein will be joined by Steve Kirby, the Somerset fast bowler, and Middlesex batsman Dawid Malan – both previously played in 2010 and 2011.Simon Kerrigan, the Lancashire and England Lions left-arm spinner, who took eight wickets in the contest last year, is the frontline slow bowler, while Alan Richardson and Peter Trego, two stalwarts of the county game, are also included.The other batsmen currently in the squad are Jimmy Adams, Joe Denly and Sam Northeast. Two more names will be added in the near future. The four-day game takes place from March 24 to 27.Before the Champion County game, MCC, Warwickshire and Sussex will compete for the Emirates Airline Twenty20 Trophy. Dravid, who scored a hundred in the 2011 Champion County match against Nottinghamshire, and Tait, who both play for Rajasthan Royals, will be part of the squad for the two-day event before heading to India for the IPL.John Stephenson, MCC’s head of cricket, said, “Since the decision was first made four years ago to play the Champion County fixture in Abu Dhabi as a day-night match, national cricket boards from around the world have subsequently trialled the format. All of this research has recently culminated in the ICC officially sanctioning the possibility of playing day-night Test cricket, which MCC has been calling for since 2009 in a bid to re-energise Tests in countries where crowds are falling.”The fact that evidence from previous Champion County fixtures has contributed to this decision greatly highlights MCC’s global research and development role, and the 2013 match against Warwickshire will build on this platform.”MCC squad (two more to be added) Dale Benkenstein (capt), Jimmy Adams, Joe Denly, Rahul Dravid (T20 only), Simon Kerrigan, Steve Kirby, Dawid Malan, Sam Northeast, Alan Richardson, Shaun Tait (T20 only), Peter Trego