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ScorecardPace bowler Asitha Fernando took his six wickets at crucial stages as Sri Lanka Under-19s edged out Bangladesh Under-19s by four runs in the second Youth ODI in Colombo. They now have a 2-0 lead in the five-match series.Fernando took three wickets inside 5.3 overs to rock Bangladesh’s pursuit of 180 runs. The visitors kept slipping, falling to 52 for 6 in the 15th over. Shahanur Rahman provided the only resistance with his 72 off 123 balls.Batting at No. 7, he was shepherding the tail but couldn’t hold off Asitha’s late raid – he finished with 6 for 37 in 10 overs. Damitha Silva removed Shahanur to complete the victory in the 48th over.Earlier, the home side were restricted to 179 for 9 in 50 overs with captain Charith Asalanka – who starred with bat and ball in the first game – top scoring with 68. Legspinner Saleh Ahmed took three wickets while Nahid Hasan, Mohammad Saifuddin and Mehedy Hasan took two wickets each.

Even as Ireland were hunting down West Indies in Nelson, in a quiet corner of quiet Manuka Oval in quiet Canberra, Bangladesh were going through a three-hour intense training session. Bangladesh lost both their World Cup warm-up games, one of them to Ireland, and their first opponents in the tournament are Afghanistan, who beat them in the Asia Cup last March in the only previous ODI between the two sides.Bangladesh have not played an international game for two-and-a-half months now, but going by this afternoon’s workout, they are putting in the effort in training. Barring Tamim Iqbal, who is feeling his way back from a knee injury and only faced throwdowns and some offbreaks, the other Bangladesh batsmen had long stints in the side nets just outside Manuka Oval against both pace and spin. The fast bowlers ran in hard in the heat and tested their team-mates’ techniques.The injury-prone Mashrafe Mortaza eased into his spell, bowling off a few paces at the start, and clutching his right shoulder on a few occasions as he loosened up. He was soon sprinting in from his usual run-up, although he was the slowest of the four Bangladesh pace bowlers. He also bowled the shortest spell among the four, choosing to have a short batting stint after that.

‘I’m challenging you, coach’

“[If] I’m out [again], I’m out. I’ll go away. I’m serious. I’m challenging you, coach.” Tamim Iqbal had just been bowled by a yorker from the sidearm device operated by Bangladesh coach Chandika Hathurusingha.
Tamim had stayed away from the nets at Manuka Oval while his team-mates sweated it out. He sauntered in quite late and sat down to have a long chat with Nasir Hossain. Finally, he prepared to face throwdowns from Hathurusingha.
And he was bowled early on. The proud batsman’s ego had been hurt. Hathurusingha tried to gently talk Tamim out of such potentially distracting challenges but the batsman was adamant.
And for the remainder of his stint, Tamim was not getting out. The faster Hathurusingha slung them in, the faster they went. Cover drives, straight drives, on-drives, pulls, cuts. “Good shots,” the coach acknowledged in the end and went on to advise the batsman about mindset and switching on and off during an innings.

Rubel Hossain seemed the quickest, sending Mahmudullah’s leg stump out of the ground with a sharp yorker. He also found some swing, while the two young ones, Taskin Ahmed and Al-Amin Hossain hit the surface hard and generated rapid bounce. The well-built Taskin, especially, was quite a sight when viewed from just behind the batsman as he pounded in.Rubel and Al-Amin bowled in tandem, while Mortaza and Taskin took charge in another net. Spinners operated in the remaining two practice nets. Team manager and former Bangladesh captain Khaled Mahmud sent down a handful of his mediums as well, even going past the outside edge a couple of times.Mominul Haque, Mushfiqur Rahim, Soumya Sarkar and Mahmudullah comprised the first batch of batsmen while Shakib Al Hasan, Nasir Hossain, Sabbir Rahman and Mortaza formed the second. Anamul Haque came on in the final batch along with some of the bowlers.After some initial discomfort in tackling the pace and bounce of a couple of the strongly-built local net bowlers, the short Mominul went on to play some solid pulls, picking up the lengths early and moving quickly into position.Watched by the odd group of children returning from school, Mushfiqur batted the longest, in the net just adjacent to the pavement. There were some instinctive punches on the up off the middle of the bat along with some top-edged hooks. Soon, he started batting in mock situations. Twelve needed off four balls. Fine leg up, called out Taskin before starting to run in. Mushfiqur calmly walked across and connected on the scoop off a full delivery. He did it against Mortaza too. With two needed off one, however, Taskin fired in a yorker, which Mushfiqur missed. Bangladesh will be hoping all the work prevents another misfire against Afghanistan.

The toughest task facing South Africa’s selectors as they approach the quarter-finals is what to do with Quinton de Kock, according to Graeme Smith. While the former national captain endorsed de Kock’s long-term future despite his current lean patch, he indicated South Africa seek a quick-fix solution as they go in search of silverware.”That is the fundamental decision,” Smith told South African talk radio station . “He is your long-term future and when you go back to South Africa, you are going to pick him but do you in the short term, for the quarter-final, go for the guy that’s in form, that’s going to win you the quarter-final?”South Africa have one more match before they reach the knockouts – against UAE in Wellington – and Smith believes what they decide there will dictate what they will do in their quarter-final. “Do you back Quinton against UAE and hope he gets runs?” Smith asked. “That’s the challenge for the leadership team. They know he can play and he can get runs but he is horribly out of form. So do you take him out of the space, give him a break and let someone else like Rilee Rossouw who is batting well go to the top and add some substance there, and give Quinny a go maybe later in the tournament or when we come back home?”

Morkel hopes for tough UAE challenge

Morne Morkel hopes UAE will provide South Africa with the opportunity to fix things in their final World Cup group game by challenging their top order and death bowling.
“They start quite well with the new ball, they bowl at a pace that is quite tough to get away and they have some swing,” Morkel said. “For our top order it will be nice to be tight.
“And from a bowling point of view, we can work on our death overs. This will be an unbelievably good exercise for us going into the quarter-finals.”
Morkel said that South Africa needed to pick themselves up quickly after they failed to chase 232 against Pakistan in their previous match, and get back to winning ahead of the knockouts.

De Kock has only got into double figures once in the tournament so far, after being rushed back into action a month earlier than expected following an ankle ligament tear. Russell Domingo, South Africa’s coach, said the injury had no aftereffects and de Kock has received the backing of his team-mates, including Hashim Amla and JP Duminy, and former players such as Herschelle Gibbs, who said he would stick with de Kock because he is “too dangerous a player to discard” who can “come off at any time irrespective of form.”But South Africa have never been the sort to take chances and Rossouw’s promising form may be too tempting to ignore. He scored half-centuries against West Indies and Ireland and is accustomed to batting in the top order, so could replace de Kock, although that would leave AB de Villiers with the treble task of leading, keeping wicket and being the anchor batsman.Given that de Villiers has also used himself to make up the fifth bowler’s overs, an additional burden could prove one too many and de Kock may have to work through the tough period at the tournament but Smith thinks that could have been avoided had South Africa selected their squad differently. “I can’t help but think they wish they had Ryan McLaren there to cover that base and then they can make that decision somewhere else,” he said.McLaren was not part of the final squad – after he lost his place following a poor series in Australia last November – which has also left South Africa without a genuine allrounder in most of their matches. Wayne Parnell, who was selected ahead of McLaren, played just one match and Vernon Philander has missed the previous games through injury.All that has affected South Africa most when chasing, which Smith sees as a symptom of the tournament itself: “In general, the World Cup has favoured the team batting first. That’s a worrying trend and hopefully as this tournament goes on people can start chasing totals.”Some teams have chased successfully like Sri Lanka, South Africa’s likely opponents in the quarter-finals. Smith thinks South Africa could beat Sri Lanka as long as they use the next 10 days well. “There’s enough quality and enough match-winners in that team that can beat anybody in a quarter-final,” he said. “There are so many stories in the World Cup of teams that just qualified, or just scraped through on a run-rate thing and ended up going on to win the World Cup. Think about Pakistan in 1992. It’s about performing at the right time. It’s so important, in the next 10 days, that the guys make the right decisions, gets their heads in the right space, focus on what’s important and how to win games, and go and do it. That’s ultimately what they should focus on.”

ScorecardThe East Zone players celebrate their three-wicket victory•BCB

Islami Bank East Zone became inaugural champions of the Bangladesh Cricket League’s One-Day competition after a thrilling three-wicket win over BCB North Zone in Mirpur. Despite rain stopping play for 78 minutes during East Zone’s chase and being set a stiff revised target, they won with an over to spare.The final flourish was provided by Abul Hasan and Arafat Sunny, who added the last 40 runs off just 2.4 overs. Both struck three fours and a six each, with Abul making 39 off 35 balls while Sunny blazed 18 off just seven balls.East Zone’s chase started with a jolt when Tamim Iqbal holed out to Taijul Islam at mid-off in the second over. But the counterattack was spectacular from Litton Das and Mominul Haque who added 102 runs off just 13.3 overs to restore the balance of the contest. Litton struck two sixes and six fours in his 37-ball 50. He teed off in Taijul’s first over, blasting the left-arm spinner for three fours in a row and then a six after a dot ball. The tenth over cost 18 runs, and East Zone were in tune with the chase.Mominul, who got out in the 27th over, made 78 off 77 balls with ten fours, his first fifty in any competitive match since the Zimbabwe series last year. It will be an innings that would give him some confidence going into the ODI series against Pakistan. After the rain break, East Zone needed a further 147 runs in 26 overs.Their chase was derailed when they lost Tasamul Haque, Alok Kapali, Mominul and Nazmul Hossain Milon in quick succession, but Asif Ahmed struck a 52-ball 46 with four fours and a six to keep them in the game. When he left in the 43rd over, North Zone had a sniff but were blazed away by the Abul-Sunny unbroken eighth-wicket partnership. Taijul took three wickets for 56 runs while Farhad Reza picked up two wickets.Earlier East Zone’s decision to bowl first looked justified. Junaid Siddique and Naeem Islam fell early and when Mushfiqur Rahim was dismissed in the 19th over, North Zone had slipped to 88 for 3.Thereafer, Mahmudul Hasan added 140 runs for the fourth wicket with captain Nasir Hossain. It was a stroke-filled passage of play that lasted 23.2 overs and completely transformed the North Zone innings. Mahmudul reached his maiden List-A century, off 127 balls with 10 fours, by rushing for a second run after pushing towards long-on. His innings ended in the 43rd over when Asif Ahmed picked up his wicket for 110 runs off 132 balls, which included eleven fours.Nasir fell in the 47th over for 96 off 84 balls with eight fours and two sixes. Ariful Haque and Delwar Hossain made 17 each, but their efforts were not enough to push their score past the 300-run mark in the end overs. Asif Ahmed and Arafat Sunny picked up two wickets each.

Devon Smith has said a desire to “prove England wrong” provided extra motivation for West Indies. He was among the players surprised to hear Colin Graves, the incoming ECB chairman, describe West Indies as a “mediocre” side ahead of the series.And now, buoyed by their escape in Antigua, after Jason Holder hit an unbeaten hundred, Smith claimed the entire squad was looking to punish England for their arrogance.”They said in the press they would win three love,” Smith said. “We’ve had the first Test and we’re looking forward to the next two to come. It motivates me – it motivates the whole team – to go out there and prove them wrong for whatever they said.”The guys are pumped up and looking forward to it. To bat a whole day and save a Test is amazing. A lot of fans expected us to lose but we delivered and we earned the draw.”While the perception of arrogance is unfair to England – nobody in the touring party claimed West Indies were “mediocre” and nobody in the touring party suggested a 3-0 victory – it is still a useful motivational tool. It allows West Indies to think of themselves as underdogs, freed of expectation and pressure.”We have no pressure now,” Smith said. “England have the pressure because they are looking for the victory. Sometimes it’s good to be underdogs. At least you have nothing to lose and something to prove.”Smith will become the first Grenadian to play a Test on home soil when this match starts on Tuesday. One of only four men from the island have represented West Indies in Test cricket – Junior Murray, Nelson Pascal, Rawl Lewis are the others – he can anticipate vociferous local support at the impressive National Stadium. Bearing in mind that even Lewis (Test batting average 8.90; Test bowling average 114) has a stand named after him, Smith can probably expect the same at some stage.He expects the pitch to be “great” for batting, though he also anticipates that “there may be more than Antigua.” Devendra Bishoo’s legspin is sure to come into play following the omission of Sulieman Benn.Smith enjoyed a pretty good first Test. While the manner of his second innings dismissal – caught at mid-on – was, in his words “unfortunate” he had by then compiled his highest Test score since November 2005. He put the improvement down to a more confident approach and some work against spin bowling.”I used to put myself under unnecessary pressure,” he said. “Now I just want to go out and express myself. I’m approaching the game with a lot more confidence.”I had an issue for a short while that I was out to the arm-ball. It was a simple mistake and I have worked on it. It was not a major thing.”But this match – at home – will be a dream for me. My whole family will be here to support me. The people will be here to support not just me but the whole West Indies team. It will be a great occasion.”

ScorecardBrendon Taylor made 152 to steers Notts’ day•Getty Images

For much of the afternoon at Taunton, Lewis Gregory, Somerset’s highly rated 23-year-old seam bowler, cut a bemused figure in the Twenty20 dug-out at midwicket. Out in the middle, his elders and – in the opinion of his coach, Matthew Maynard – betters, were chugging through the motions on a track so placid it might as well have been a cliché.It was No County for Old Men at the County Ground. Alfonso Thomas, in his 39th year, was the pick of a toiling attack with 4 for 57, three of which came after Nottinghamshire, powered by a brilliant, chanceless 152 from Brendan Taylor, had rocketed past 300; Tim Groenewald, the youngest of Somerset’s six bowlers at the age of 31, was flogged for 84 runs in 18 overs.Gregory claimed he no idea why he was not playing in this fixture. Maynard later confirmed he was paying the price for a profligate display up at Durham last week, where did admittedly leak runs in bowler-friendly conditions.”You can only learn from playing,” Maynard said, somewhat confusingly, “but also you need to take time out to reflect on what you have to do to put it right for the next time.”While Gregory reflected, so too did his 21-year-old team-mate Jamie Overton, both of whom looked considerably sharper than any of Somerset’s preferred options while being put through their paces in a lunchtime net on the outfield.Jamie’s motivation for putting in the sort of performance that Somerset so desperately need would presumably have been at an all-time high this week, seeing as his twin brother, rival, and greatest source of inspiration, Craig, has just been called up to the England squad. Instead, he is being sent to play for the seconds in two Twenty20 games this week, because Maynard feels his team is no position to gamble on such youthful impetuosity.”That’s what we did up at Durham and it cost us,” he said. “We didn’t have that experience to control the game when it was needed. There will be plenty of opportunities for all the youngsters but I am still trying to find out what my best five seam bowlers are, and that’s developing more and more which is great.”Somerset’s best moment of the day was, in fairness to their veterans’ policy, produced by the most senior professional on parade – and it brought to an end the day’s outstanding innings. Taylor had just crashed his 20th four of the day to reach his 150 from 199 balls when Marcus Trescothick, 40 this Christmas, pulled off an outstanding one-handed pluck at a solitary wide slip, low to his left and fractionally behind him, to cling onto Taylor’s first false stroke of the day.According to some reports, Taylor had been earning 30p a run before, at the age of 29, ending his brilliant but all-too-brief career as Zimbabwe captain on a high note at the World Cup. That’ll be an invoice for £45.60 waiting in Lisa Pursehouse’s in-box on Monday morning then.It was a brilliant display from a batsman in the prime of his form. He added 82 for the first wicket with Steven Mullaney, who set the early tempo with 42 from 60 balls and was visibly aghast to be bowled neck and crop by Abdur Rehman as he reached forward but down the wrong line. It was clear from the ease of the wicket and the pace of the outfield that he had foregone the chance for a monster.Frighteningly for Somerset, they weren’t even up against a full-strength Nottinghamshire team. What Alex Hales would have made of the chance to bat first on this track and against this attack can only be the stuff of speculation, and if he hadn’t come off, then James Taylor surely would.Instead, after Greg Smith had come and gone cheaply, shouldering arms to Thomas for 11, it was left to Michael Lumb to provide Taylor with company, as he marked his first red-ball innings since last September with 73 from 133 balls, including 12 fours and sharing in a third-wicket stand of 155 that, for as long as it lasted, looked certain to take Nottinghamshire closer to 450 than 400.Thomas can take the credit for reining them in – he was even on a hat-trick when Samit Patel fell lbw first ball – but little else went Somerset’s way on a sobering day. A generation that, for five almost-glorious years, could justifiably claim to be the second-best team in the country are now, simply, second-best. Now, what about that youth policy?

ScorecardFile photo – Anuja Patil (left) starred both with the bat and ball•Getty Images

Anuja Patil produced a cameo with the bat to lift India Women to 130 and then struck three times with the ball to apply the chokehold on Sri Lanka Women’s chase in Ranchi. Her all-round effort sent India 1-0 up in the three-match T20 series.Anuja struck in the first over of the chase, removing Yasoda Mendis for 8. She soon dismissed the other opener, Chamari Atapattu, for a seven-ball duck. Shikha Pandey, Ekta Bisht, Poonam Yadav, Deepti Sharma all built on the early strikes and ensured that Sri Lanka were limited to 96 for 7 in 20 overs. Wicketkeeper-batsman Dilani Manodara made the only score of note – 41 off 44 balls. The next-best score was captain Shashikala Siriwardene’s 18 off 29 balls. Each of India’s bowlers boasted an economy rate of under 5.80. Anuja finished with career-best figures of 3 for 14.Earlier in the day, India’s top order stuttered as well as the hosts were reduced to 15 for 2 within four overs. But the innings was stabilised by thirties from Smriti Mandhana and Harmanpreet Kaur. Anuja, coming in at No.6, hit three fours during her 17-ball 22 to provide the final flourish.Left-arm spinner Sugandika Kumari, who accounted for the top three, was the pick of the bowlers for Sri Lanka. However, it only offered scant consolation for the visitors.

Scorecard and ball-by-ball details1:51

Farrell: McCullum goes out all-tatooed-guns blazing

He’s not going quietly. Brendon McCullum blasted into history with the fastest Test hundred of them all to leave Australia speechless and grant New Zealand a first-innings foothold on an unforgettable day at Hagley Oval.Arriving at the crease with the hosts a floundering 32 for 3 in the 20th over of the innings, McCullum launched an immediate counterattack in the lead-up to lunch. On resumption he stepped things up further in the company of a similarly fearless Corey Anderson, and spanked Josh Hazlewood over wide mid-off to reach his century in a mere 54 balls – two fewer than Viv Richards in 1986 and Misbah-ul-Haq in 2014.Most of Test cricket’s fastest hundreds have been compiled in circumstances that heavily favoured batsman, whether it be the pitch or the match scenario. Not so this time, as McCullum and Anderson overcame the obstacles of a lively pitch, a dominant Australian attack and a day one scenario that would traditionally have called for dogged defence.Josh Hazlewood, James Pattinson and Jackson Bird had all bowled demanding spells with the new ball, but none were able to find an answer for McCullum’s assault. Vitally, an outstanding catch by Mitchell Marsh when McCullum had made 39 was rendered meaningless when the replay showed Pattinson had overstepped.It would have been Australia’s third brilliant catch of the innings, after the captain, Steven Smith, snared a pair of thrilling one-handed takes to dismiss Tom Latham and Kane Williamson. The second of these was made still more impressive by the fact that Smith was partly obscured by a helmet-clad David Warner, posted at a short third slip close to the bat.After useful innings by BJ Watling and Matt Henry, New Zealand were ultimately bowled out for 370, leaving Australia with a testing period to bat in the evening session. The tourists’ over rate was less than optimal during the afternoon, something that may result in a fine for Smith, though more than 12 months after his previous transgression, against India in late 2014.Warner and Joe Burns began carefully, weighing up conditions that still provided some challenges to the batsmen. Boult was particularly testing, gaining just enough movement to draw an edge from Warner that was comfortably held in the slips. Burns and Usman Khawaja did well to get to stumps, but there is plenty of work yet to be done.As was the case in Wellington, Smith did not hesitate in sending New Zealand in on a pitch even greener than that served up at the Basin Reserve. Hazlewood and Pattinson found extravagant seam movement immediately, leaving Martin Guptill and Latham groping for the new ball.Guptill was particularly troubled by Pattinson deliveries that cut back into him, and an inside edge squeezed off the body presented a chance to the short leg, Joe Burns, who grassed it. Another opportunity was not long in coming, and this time Burns did well to propel himself forward for the catch.A period of stalemate followed, as Williamson and Latham tried to dig in. There were multiple plays and misses, and pressure built through some diligent work by Hazlewood, Pattinson and Bird. Eventually, Bird gave Latham one to drive, and the batsman’s slightly hesitant movement drew an edge towards the slips. It was probably Adam Voges’ catch, but Smith removed all doubt by flinging himself brilliantly across for a one-handed classic.Hazlewood had bowled beautifully without reward, but he now homed in on Nicholls, who had edged a ball going across him on day one in Wellington. This time Hazlewood seamed one back down the line, and pinned Nicholls in front of the off stump. Richard Kettleborough gave it out, and the batsman’s review only confirmed the fact.All this time Williamson had been battling for survival, his back thigh taking a battering as he was often turned around by seam movement. Sensing momentum needed to change, McCullum walked out with his mind set on attack, and, after accepting a gracious guard of honour from the Australians, he did exactly that.McCullum’s first shot flew fortunately over the slips, but he subsequently found his range, and one Mitchell Marsh over was dispatched for no fewer than 21 runs including a pair of sixes. The Hagley Oval crowd came to life, and Australia’s grip on proceedings was loosened.They tightened it again when Smith swooped to claim Williamson, but Pattinson’s overstep shifted momentum back towards New Zealand. The reprieve allowed McCullum to carry on charging at the bowlers with all the crazy brave belief of a man who knows his luck is in.There were almost as many edges as full-blooded shots, not unlike Ian Botham at Headingley in 1981, but on a surface offering useful sideways movement this was to be expected. What McCullum did achieve was to throw Australia’s bowlers off the optimum approach for the pitch.Rather than pursuing the edge of the bat, the visiting pacemen dropped shorter and shorter, inviting McCullum and Anderson to use a horizontal bat. What resulted was an avalanche of runs that put New Zealand firmly back into the match and left Australia pondering a more challenging pursuit than they had faced in Wellington.Aside from McCullum’s thrilling display, the overall scoring was equally eye-popping. No fewer than 199 runs came between lunch and tea, 161 in 16 overs after Pattinson’s no-ball. When McCullum finally hit one within reach of an Australian fielder to depart for 145, Hagley Oval stood as one. It may as well have been the whole of New Zealand.

Match abandoned
ScorecardRain in Dharamsala allowed only the toss before the match, between Oman and Netherlands, was abandoned•International Cricket Council

The first international match between Oman and Netherlands was washed out, without a ball being bowled, after persistent rain left large puddles on the field in Dharamsala. The result meant that Netherlands, who had launched themselves to the tournament proper in the previous World Twenty20 with a stirring run-chase, were knocked out, just two matches into their campaign this year.Oman, coming off a proper high, having scalped Associate favourites Ireland on Wednesday, however, remained in the hunt for the Super 10s, with three points from two games. The two sides shared points, after the match was abandoned at 4.48pm local time, an hour before the cut-off time.It had rained during the morning and overnight as well, leaving the groundstaff with an uphill task. Rain, however, had relented at 2.45pm, which was just enough for the coin to go up. Oman’s Sultan Ahmed, the oldest captain in the tournament, opted to bowl, explaining that his decision was motivated by overhead conditions.Minutes after the toss, when the players were preparing to line up for the national anthems, rain returned, forcing the covers back on. The groundstaff, in fact, covered the entire playing area. Rain, though, only got heavier, and had the final say.Netherlands captain Peter Borren was left despondent after his team’s campaign ended: “For it to end like this after having lost to Bangladesh in a closely-fought game, we are gutted, he said. “We could done a lot of things better in that game, it will haunt us for a while. We don’t get a lot of opportunities at this stage. As someone says, our next chance could be in four years time.”The forecast for the second match of the day, between Bangladesh and Ireland, also looks bleak.

ScorecardChris Rushworth could have been a threat to Somerset had there been any play on the final day•Getty Images

The point about fire alarms is that they go off while the fire can still be put out. Somerset’s players skedaddled away from the Riverside before lunch on Wednesday with a draw in their results column and eight points gained from the match. Durham received ten points for their efforts. At which point even the most passionate former inhabitant of the Stragglers’ Bar might offer a polite cough and a wry smile. The reassuring thing for Somerset supporters was that Chris Rogers would understand that reaction only too well.Heavy overnight rain and a mid-morning shower put paid to any chance of play on the final day of this match. Somerset’s skipper admitted that, on balance, his relief at not having to face Chris Rushworth and Graham Onions outweighed his disappointment at losing two days’ cricket.”We want to challenge ourselves and we want to get better but it was probably a relief to us in many respects because we were behind in the game and it was going to be hard work, particularly against Rushworth and Onions in that last innings,” said Rogers. “On the other hand, it would have been a useful opportunity to see where we’re at.”The more caustic West Country critics might be quick to tell Rogers where they think his team is “at” but they might be wisely advised to listen to what else he had to say. For example, here is his assessment of Somerset’s performance in a game in which they were bowled out for 179 and in which Durham were 53 for 1 after ten overs in their first innings and – the real horror show – 72 for 0 after 11 overs in their second.”Our fielding was top class and our attitude was top class but we disappointed with the new ball and that’s pretty unforgivable at Durham in the first game of the season. But the guys who had that ball in their hands will know that and they will get better. We found it hard with the bat and lost wickets in groups. Then we were shown that it was possible to stick around by our Nos. 7 and 9.”Given the limitations placed on Rogers by the fact that his comments were for public consumption, there is not too much skipper-speak in them. If he described the new-ball bowling as “unforgivable” outside the dressing room one wonders what adjectives he attached to it in private.Rogers is a fighter and he wants to lead a team of players with similar dispositions. He will be delighted to welcome the Overtons back for the game against Surrey at The Oval a week on Sunday. This is him on the challenge of facing Durham’s seamers on the first evening and second morning of this game.”I loved being back in the fight. To be up at Durham against Rushworth and Onions is probably as tough as it gets and I thought I was coming out at the other end of it when I was run out. These things happen. There were a couple of glances at Peter as I was walking off but I’ve done it to other people too, so you just have to cop that on the chin.”And so he did. But he will not be deceived by that return of eight points. One imagines there are some things Rogers will take on the chin and others which he will refuse to accept.”I’ve learned a lot about the guys and there is plenty to work on,” he said. “There is a lot of talent in the squad but how they put that into practice out in the middle is going to be our challenge. Every game’s going to be tough but it comes down to us. We didn’t get it right in this match but it’s a long season.”