Australia batter’s 44 is highest score as Group Three leaders shade madcap opening day

ECB Reporters Network03-Jun-2021The bowlers held sway in the LV=Insurance County Championship match between Glamorgan and Lancashire in Cardiff with 19 wickets falling on the opening day.Lancashire were put into bat and managed 173 all out with the highest partnership of the innings being the 36 put on between Luke Wood and Danny Lamb for the seventh wicket. Michael Neser returned the best figures for the hosts with 3 for 46, with the other Glamorgan seamers all chipping in.Glamorgan started solidly in reply with an opening stand of 39 between David Lloyd and Joe Cooke but from that point on, the wickets continued to tumble with Tom Bailey – who had top-scored with 31 – claiming 3 for 40 for Lancashire.Related

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Glamorgan reached the close on 150 for 9, still trailing by 23 and in danger of conceding what could be a telling first-innings lead.Having won the toss and elected to field, they had started well in the first session with James Weighell the pick of the bowlers, but it was the ever-reliable Michael Hogan who made the first breakthrough from a ball that moved in sharply to the left-handed Keaton Jennings, clattering into his stumps.Weighell took the two next wickets to fall, the first from an inswinger that Luke Wells left alone and he was given out lbw. Alex Davies had looked to be finding his feet when he attempted to cut a ball that was too close to him for the shot and he spooned a catch to Andrew Salter at point for 21.It was Dan Douthwaite who claimed the final two wickets of the Lancashire innings with both Saqib Mahmood and Bailey chopping the ball on to their stumps.The wickets also fell at regular intervals in the Glamorgan innings, the first being Lloyd for a punchy 21, bowled when he left a ball from Mahmood that clipped his off stump.Bailey claimed two wickets in two balls when he had Joe Cooke bowled and Billy Root trapped lbw to leave Glamorgan 74 for 3.Marnus Labuschagne was the one player who looked well set but he also fell on this madcap day, dismissed lbw to Lamb. His 44 in this innings doubled his run tally for Glamorgan this season with the Australian yet to rediscover the outstanding form of his 2019 county campaign. With him gone there was little further resistance, as Lancashire made their way through the lower order.”There was some good bowling there, shot selection was a bit of an issue at times… there is the odd ball that nips around a bit but it is a nice wicket,” Hogan said. “After that first hour, I thought that we were in for a long old day, and it seemed like a nice wicket. 19 in the day is interesting but I suppose the game goes like that sometimes.”

Downplaying the idea that his form has dipped, the India legspinner says the team had communicated their confidence in him ahead of the SL tour

Varun Shetty08-Jul-2021India legspinner Yuzvendra Chahal has said we will “see a more confident Yuzi” during India’s limited-overs tour of Sri Lanka starting on July 13 in Colombo. Chahal, alongside Kuldeep Yadav, was a key member of India’s ODI squad in their lead up to the 2019 World Cup. Since that tournament, however, neither has had an assured spot. This was reflected in BCCI’s annual contracts list for the year as well, with Chahal and Yadav both demoted to Grade C, from Grade B and A respectively.Since the end of the 2019 World Cup, Chahal averages 37.12 in ODIs and has gone at an economy rate of 6.45. Those numbers must be qualified with the fact that he has played in only five games during that period – which coincided with the Covid-19 pandemic – but his being benched during the entirety of India’s three-match ODI series at home against England in March was a reminder of sorts of his diminished importance in the squad. But Chahal said the team management had communicated their confidence in him.Related

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“My performance – I don’t think it was a dip [in form] or anything,” Chahal said ahead of the Sri Lanka ODI series. “You can’t perform in every match. I will try my level best. This series is very important to me.”I keep having conversations with the bowling coach. They [management] have given us confidence, and that’s why I’m here. If it wasn’t there, no one in the team [would be here]. My main focus at the moment is just this series – there’s been lesser cricket over the last year, but that’s not in our hands. Whatever series happens, we want to perform. After this series, my focus will be on the IPL, and only then the [T20] World Cup. Right now, I’m focusing on this tour only.”Chahal’s last ODI appearance was against Australia, in November 2020. Since then, he has played in 19 T20s across domestic and international cricket, and only two List A games for Haryana. But the spinner said he had been reminded by stand-in coach Rahul Dravid that he would be the senior spinner on this tour and that the coach wanted him to have a guiding influence on the younger players.”I’m playing an ODI series after so long, but we’ve already played here – two practice matches. [We’ve been practicing] early in the morning so that we get used to the heat,” he said. “It’ll be totally different compared to 20 overs where we’re on the ground for three, three-and-a-half hours.”A major difference between T20Is and ODIs is the fielding restrictions – with only four fielders allowed outside the 30-yard circle from the 11th to the 40th over of ODIs. Chahal said that while those restrictions might be hard on a spin bowler, they aren’t new.”I’ve played for five years, 50-plus matches, so I’m used to all this,” he said. “This is not an excuse or something. Now, when I bowl, I just focus on how to get batters out. That’s it.”I’ve a couple of variations and I’m focusing on that only, not using other deliveries. You will see a more confident Yuzi in this series. I’m just working on my angles and in general trying to bowl more.”

Winner takes all when Brave and Invincibles contest final spot on Monday, Superchargers eliminated

Matt Roller15-Aug-2021Rashid Khan took three wickets and two catches to spark a collapse of 6 for 28 and send Trent Rockets into the knockout stages of the Hundred, with Dawid Malan shuffling up the order to hit his third half-century of the tournament to seal a straightforward chase.Manchester Originals, who had already been eliminated after consecutive defeats, were 70 for 1 after 40 balls when Rashid came into the attack, but he struck three times in his first six balls to set a middle-order slide in motion which proved decisive. He was unusually subdued in his celebrations, with the crisis unfolding at home in Afghanistan seemingly on his mind, but still delivered a clutch performance in a must-win game to set up an easy win.In the chase, Originals were unable to take the early wickets they needed as Malan put on 50 for the first wicket with Alex Hales, moving up to open in a bid to find some form before the knockout stages. Matt Parkinson struck twice through the middle, having Hales caught behind and Steven Mullaney top-edging to mid-on, but Samit Patel’s 35 not out saw them across the line.The result sets up a winner-takes-all fixture between Southern Brave and Oval Invincibles at the Ageas Bowl on Monday night and means that Northern Superchargers have been eliminated. In the event of a no-result or a tie on Monday, Invincibles would pip Brave to the final spot in the top three. Rockets are likely to play in Friday’s eliminator, though could go straight into Saturday’s final if Superchargers thrash Phoenix on Tuesday.King Khan
Rashid gave an interview to the in the build-up to the Hundred in which he revealed he had spent 25 nights at home in the last five years, during which time both of his parents have passed away. He has been tweeting with increasing despair over the last month about the humanitarian crisis and deteriorating situation in Afghanistan and in the context of Kabul being seized by force on Sunday, it was a credit to his professionalism that he managed to keep his focus on the matter at hand at Trent Bridge.He came on with Colin Munro set on 25 off 12 balls and playing with the uninhibited calmness of a man whose team had nothing riding on the result, and his Sussex and Adelaide Strikers team-mate Phil Salt looking to accelerate after making it through the Powerplay. His first ball was his worst, a full toss sliding down the leg side, but Salt top-edged a sweep to short fine leg to give Rashid an early breakthrough.Two balls later, he pushed through a googly which struck Colin Ackermann on the shoulder as he got low in an optimistic attempt to sweep. After a long delay due to technical difficulties, ball-tracking confirmed it was hitting the top of leg stump and Rashid had two in three balls. He changed ends for his second set of five, immediately yorking Carlos Brathwaite, and conceded four runs across a set of 10 from the same end.His final set went for two boundaries through third man – once via the outside edge, the other through a late dab – but as if to make up for those runs, he held onto a superb running catch at deep square leg, to go with an earlier effort at long-on. It was not far off a one-man show.Malan’s the man
Malan started the season with a fluent innings of 62 not out off 43 balls to help Rockets cruise to victory against Southern Brave, but managed only 86 off 79 across his next six knocks – after his sluggish 51 against Birmingham Phoenix, Moeen Ali even joked: “we kept Malan in, which was great for us”.This chase was an ideal situation for him, with limited pressure on the required rate, and he got up and running in the Powerplay with a series of trademark drives and punches through the off-side ring. He slowed down slightly through the middle and fell for a low-key 52 off 46, when miscuing to extra cover via the top edge, but had provided a foil for the right-handers and left an equation of 12 off 10 balls.Patel, who had earlier celebrated exuberantly after bowling his Nottinghamshire team-mate Joe Clarke, put the finishing touches to the chase with a pair of late sixes, before D’Arcy Short – shuffling down to No. 5 as Rockets ensured left-right partnerships throughout – thumped a full toss for four to seal the win.

The order of the Tests will not change after a late bid by the WA government for a swap

ESPNcricinfo and AAP06-Dec-2021The fifth Ashes Test will be relocated away from Perth after Cricket Australia confirmed it could not be held in Western Australia due to border restrictions in place.There will also be no change in order of the Test matches – on Sunday the WA sports minister Tony Buti made a last-ditch bid for Perth to switch with Adelaide for the second Test – with the replacement venue to be confirmed in the coming days. Hobart is the narrow favourite behind having a second match at the MCG.It could be that there will now be two day-night matches in the series given that broadcasters will have lost the primetime-friendly west coast slot which allows Test cricket to broadcast in the evening in other major cities.A few weeks ago WA Cricket had been bullish about its chances of staging the Test with chief executive Christina Matthews putting it as a “97%” chance, but that receded quickly in recent days with the WA government insisting on 14 days quarantine for anyone associated with putting on the Test from outside the state including key broadcast personnel along with players’ families.”We acknowledge and appreciate the efforts of the WA Government, relevant agencies and Perth Stadium over recent months,” Nick Hockley, the Cricket Australia chief executive, said.”We are very disappointed that we are unable to stage the fifth men’s Ashes Test at Perth Stadium. We did everything we could in partnership with the WA Government and WA Cricket to make it work under the current border and health arrangements, but unfortunately this was not possible.”We are particularly disappointed for Western Australian cricket fans who were so looking forward to seeing the first ever Ashes Test at the new stadium.”Matthews put a figure of between three and five million dollars on the cost of losing the Test of which WA would hope to recover half through CA. She added the the difficulties of all the broadcast and production crew needed had only become apparent in the last two weeks but denied that had been an oversight.”And not just the broadcasters in Fox and Seven – there’s also Hawkeye, there’s Spidercam and there’s DRS that only have a certain specialist group of people who follow it all around the country,” Matthews said. “They can’t get here any earlier than the players. When they come to do their job, they’ve got to go in and out of the public areas.”So there’s things that can’t be kept away from the public and that wasn’t fully known until about 10 days ago. I don’t think we dropped the ball, but maybe we needed to dig a bit deeper into things Cricket Australia need to tell the government.”I’m really cranky about the fact it’s the second year in a row we’re missing a Test, but there’s really no one to blame which makes it really hard. It’s just circumstances.”There was never any chance of the late suggestion of a Test swap being possible and it was quickly shut down by the South Australian Cricket Association on Monday shortly before the CA announcement.Hobart remains a slight favourite to be the replacement venue ahead of Melbourne, with Cricket Tasmania chief executive Dominic Baker adamant the Tim Paine saga shouldn’t have an impact on any decision.Tasmania, which has not staged a Test since 2016, had been due to host the one-off Test between Australia and Afghanistan last monthBoth the NSW government and Cricket ACT have also stated their desire to host the match, at the SCG and Manuka Oval respectively, if requiredQueensland sports minister Stirling Hinchliffe on Monday threw the Gabba forward as an option to hold a second Test this summer.”We’d love to be able to see more content here at the Gabba,” Hinchcliffe said. “We’d obviously want to continue talking to Cricket Australia about making sure that we provide the best facilities for the great content.”Nick Hockley and I speak regularly and it’d be wonderful to play a part in making sure that the Ashes is the best series possible. We’ve got to see what the terms and what the arrangements will be and the circumstances. [We’re] happy to have that conversation.”WA is slated to host one other international this summer, with an ODI involving New Zealand on January 30. That series-opener would also likely be subject to biosecurity arrangements.It comes after the WACA was due to host the women’s Test between India and Australia in October before it was moved to Queensland. A one-off Test between Afghanistan and Australia was postponed last year due to Covid-19.

He wants to spend more time with his growing family as he and his wife expect their first child in the coming days

Firdose Moonda30-Dec-20212:26

de Kock: ‘I’ve done exactly what my heart is telling me to do’

Quinton de Kock has announced a sudden retirement from Test cricket with immediate effect “to spend more time with his growing family”. de Kock was due to miss the second and third Tests against India on paternity leave but has decided to step away from the longest format entirely. He remains available to play white-ball cricket for South Africa.”This is not a decision that I have come to very easily,” de Kock said in a statement issued by CSA. “I have taken a lot of time to think about what my future looks like and what needs to take priority in my life now that Sasha and I are about to welcome our first child into this world and look to grow our family beyond that. My family is everything to me and I want to have the time and space to be able to be with them during this new and exciting chapter of our lives.”I love Test cricket and I love representing my country and all that it comes with. I’ve enjoyed the ups and the downs, the celebrations and even the disappointments, but now I’ve found something that I love even more.Related

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“In life, you can buy almost everything except for time, and right now, it’s time to do right by the people that mean the most to me.”I would like to take this opportunity to thank everyone who has been a part of my Test cricket journey from the very beginning. To my coaches, teammates, the various management teams and my family and friends – I couldn’t have shown up as I did without your support.”This is not the end of my career as a Protea, I’m fully committed to white-ball cricket and representing my country to the best of my ability for the foreseeable future.”All the best to my teammates for the remainder of this Test series against India.”See you in the ODIs and T20s.”de Kock, 29, began 2021 as South Africa’s temporary Test captain and ended it by retiring from the format. He led South Africa in four Tests, against Sri Lanka and Pakistan, with a 50% win record. South Africa beat Sri Lanka 2-0 at home but lost in Pakistan by the same margin.”In life, you can buy almost everything except for time, and right now, it’s time to do right by the people that mean the most to me”•RANDY BROOKS/AFP/Getty Images

de Kock had expressed concerns with the restrictions of bubble life in the Covid-19 pandemic and was rested from South Africa’s ODIs in Sri Lanka and against Netherlands.”It’s sad to lose a player of Quinton’s calibre at what we still see as the prime of his career and relatively young life, but family, as we all say here at CSA, is everything,” CSA acting CEO Pholetsi Moseki said in the statement. “He has been a loyal and proud servant of the Proteas team for the last seven years and we are glad that we have not lost him from the game entirely.”de Kock was also one of several players – all white – who opted not to take a knee when South Africa decided to give their players the option of taking a knee, raising a fist or standing to attention. He chose none of those on the first outing where they made gestures for anti-racism, in the West Indies, but raised a three-finger salute in tribute to a friend who had been wounded in Afghanistan and showed his support for rhino conservation.At the T20 World Cup, when CSA mandated players to take the knee, de Kock initially refused and missed the game against West Indies as a result. He subsequently apologised and has taken the knee since.de Kock made his Test debut against Australia in 2014 and played 54 Tests, scoring 3300 runs at an average of 38.82 with six centuries.His first century came at the same ground he played his last Test – SuperSport Park – when he scored 129* at No. 7 as South Africa beat England by 280 runs in 2016. He went on to score a match-winning hundred in Hobart later that year, which helped South Africa to a third successive series win in Australia. He averaged 63.18 in 2016, his best in a calendar year.

Australia’s bowling depth has captain believing they have “options for anywhere in the world”

Andrew McGlashan28-Dec-2021Pat Cummins’ immediate priority is to continue the domination of England for two more Tests as Australia target another Ashes whitewash, but after securing the series in less than 12 days he believed they were building a squad that sets them up for more success in the years to come.The standout feature for Australia across their three crushing victories has been the depth of their fast bowling. Scott Boland spectacularly added his name to the list with an astonishing haul of 6 for 7 at the MCG to follow Jhye Richardson’s five-wicket return in Adelaide and a solid debut for Michael Neser and the development of Cameron Green.Cummins’ own absence for Adelaide due to being a Covid close contact was barely noticed, as has been the case with Josh Hazlewood missing the last two games through injury and Richardson not being risked in Melbourne.Related

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“Our bowlers have been fantastic. Haven’t even felt like there’s been one session where it’s got away from us,” he said. “It’s what dreams are made of, the way we’ve played. And outside of the results there’s so many other positives; we’ve been able to have a couple of debutants, really build a squad of 15-odd players. It doesn’t just feel like a 3-0 victory, feels like we are setting ourselves up for the next few years as well.”Australia will face much sterner batting line-ups than this historically poor England side, but after last season’s loss against India a return to home dominance has left Cummins confident ahead of the challenges to come which involve three subcontinent tours to Pakistan, Sri Lanka and India in the current World Test Championship cycle.It has been more than two years since the side has played Test cricket overseas – they are due to tour Pakistan in March – and there will be different questions posed to them, notably the playing of spin and whether they rebalance the attack with a second frontline spinner or stick with the pace bowlers. Legspinner Mitchell Swepson continues to wait for his Test debut which would appear unlikely to come during the Ashes.Cameron Green claimed the Ashes-clinching wicket•Getty Images

“The World Test Championship is a big thing,” Cummins said. “Absolutely want to be in that final. Winning away from home, we’ve got a great opportunity to go over on a couple of subcontinental tours. Think that’s a really big challenge for any team, you can see England coming here it’s foreign conditions for them. I feel like it’s building. Think we have options for anywhere in the world.”Having missed the Adelaide Test, Cummins is only seven playing days into his captaincy having been thrust into the job when Tim Paine resigned a couple of weeks before the series. It could have destabilised the team, but Cummins and Steven Smith have formed an excellent leadership pair and Alex Carey has eased in behind the stumps. Alongside the return of Travis Head No. 5 and Marcus Harris’ gusty innings in Melbourne there are few areas that have not come together.On a personal level, a whirlwind few weeks was still sinking in for Cummins – he was a key part in retaining the Ashes in England in 2019 and in a couple of weeks, so long as the series can navigate Covid, will be holding the urn up in Hobart.”I don’t think it’s fully hit me yet,” he said. “Steve Waugh, Ricky Ponting, Michael Clarke, those were the captains I grew up watching and idolising so to be in a similar position is just awesome. When I think about what it means, I think more about for our group of players.”We’ve got seven players in the top 10 of the world at the moment and we probably haven’t strung the performances over the last couple of years that we expect of ourselves. This really consolidates that we are a really good, strong Test side and a good sign for the next few years.”

Leigh Kasperek grabbed three wickets, as only three of Otago’s top seven entered double figures in the chase

ESPNcricinfo staff29-Jan-2022Wellington Women 175 for 4 (Devine 92, Green 55, Black 2-36) beat Otago Women 100 (Black 16, Kasperek 3-23, Devine 2-14) by 75 runsWellington Blaze went through the T20 summer undefeated en route to their fourth crown in five years while Northern Brave’s men outclassed the Canterbury Kings in two dominant displays at Seddon Park on Dream11 Super Smash Grand Finals day.Sophie Devine made a splash with both bat and ball to help Wellington Firebirds went through the T20 summer undefeated en route their fourth Super Smash crown in five years.Opening the batting, she smashed a 62-ball 92 to help Firebirds set a target of 176. Then with the ball, she prised out the big wickets of Katey Martin and Kate Ebrahim with her seam-ups to help skittle Otago Women for 100.Devine’s century stand with Maddy Green, the captain, was instrumental in setting a launch pad for Firebirds. Green’s contribution of 55 came at a strike rate of 157.14, with their 110-run stand coming off just 72 balls.Both Devine and Green fell in the final over of the innings, as Amelia Kerr, the star allrounder, missed out with the bat, making just 20.Otago were pegged right at the start, as openers Polly Inglis and Suzie Bates fell off consecutive deliveries. Just three batters in their top seven got into double digits, and none managed more than the 16 by Martin and Emma Black. Leigh Kasperek ran through the middle and lower middle orders to finish with three wickets.

BCCI secretary says a final decision will be taken later based on both the men’s and women’s teams existing commitments

Reuters19-Feb-2022Cricket will make a comeback at the Asian Games in Hangzhou later this year but India, the game’s financial engine, is unlikely to field teams owing to existing commitments.Few expected India’s men’s team to compete in the September Games risking injury to the players ahead of the T20 World Cup in Australia from October 16.Participation of the women’s team, who will compete in the Commonwealth Games in Birmingham in July-August, now also looks unlikely.”As far as the Asian Games in Hangzhou is concerned, a final decision on whether to send both men’s and women’s teams will be taken later and based on our existing commitments,” BCCI secretary Jay Shah told Reuters.The Games coincides with the women team’s limited-overs tour of England where they are scheduled to play three ODIs and an equal number of T20Is. Hosting India is a lucrative proposition for any board and Shah said honouring bilateral commitments was particularly important in a post-Covid world.”The BCCI has always stood by member boards and helped them in these difficult times,” Shah said. “The board firmly believes in honouring its bilateral commitments. We are committed to our fans here in India and it is absolutely important that we safeguard our home season. The FTP [Future Tours Programme] that has been created it needs to be adhered to.”The reluctance of the BCCI, the world’s richest cricket board, was seen as a major impediment to the game’s Olympic inclusion. But a change in BCCI’s stance has emboldened the ICC’s push for cricket’s inclusion in the 2028 Olympic Games in Los Angeles.”The BCCI and ICC are on the same page on this and agree that the inclusion of cricket in the Olympics is good for the growth of the game,” added Shah.

Home side take handy first-innings lead despite being reduced to 129 for 7

ECB Reporters Network08-Apr-2022Rob Keogh and Gareth Berg rescued Northamptonshire with a century stand for the eighth wicket to give their side the edge against Gloucestershire at Wantage Road. The pair came together with Northants stumbling towards a sizeable first-innings deficit after James Bracey’s hundred had engineered the visitors’ recovery to 223 all out.Wicketkeeper Bracey showcased his all-round skills with five dismissals as Gloucestershire reduced their fellow LV= Insurance County Championship Division One newcomers to 129 for 7 in reply. But Keogh, who compiled his 12th first-class ton before falling for 113, shared a partnership of 137 with Berg, who made 66, to guide Northamptonshire to 288 – and there was still time to make inroads second time around, with the West Country side closing on 5 for 1, a deficit of 60.Resuming on 77 not out overnight, Bracey found a capable ally in Naseem Shah – the Pakistan international frustrating Northamptonshire’s bowlers while his partner steered the total towards 200. Successive cover boundaries off Ben Sanderson brought Bracey his century and he followed that up with a savage six over long-off, prompting Naseem to start cutting loose at the other end.A series of productive blows against Keogh extended the ninth-wicket partnership to 80 before the spinner finally got his man, Emilio Gay judging a skier perfectly to take the diving catch at mid-off.James Bracey played pretty much a lone hand for Gloucestershire•Getty Images

Bracey holed out to Nathan Buck in the next over – but he was soon back in the thick of the action, donning the gloves to take a thin edge from Ricardo Vasconcelos in the third over of Northamptonshire’s reply. That was the first of a trio of early wickets for Ryan Higgins, who then collected two in three balls as Ben Curran and Saif Zaib fell to slip catches to leave the home side wobbling at 24 for 3.Gay appeared to have weathered the storm, only to depart on the stroke of lunch and, despite losing a further three wickets in the afternoon, Northamptonshire rattled along at a lively four an over. Bracey accounted for all three, two of them sharp low catches to dismiss Lewis McManus and Tom Taylor, but Berg was reprieved when Higgins’ no-ball nullified his mistimed pull into midwicket’s hands.The veteran allrounder took full advantage with some bold strokeplay, turning the tide as he and Keogh got on top of the bowling and shepherded their side beyond Gloucestershire’s total. Keogh went to three figures with an all-run four off Higgins and, although a misjudged sweep off Zafar Gohar eventually accounted for Berg, he advanced to 113 before Ben Charlesworth had him caught in the slips.

Openers add 313 for first wicket to put contest out of Sussex’s reach

ECB Reporters Network01-May-2022Openers Sean Dickson and Alex Lees compiled the fourth highest partnership in Durham’s history as their LV= County Championship match against Sussex at Hove predictably petered out to a draw.They put on 313 for the first wicket with Dickson making 186 – his highest score for Durham – and Lees 105 before both fell in the same over from leg-spinner Mason Crane.By then they had knocked off all but two runs of their first-innings deficit of 315 and when the players shook hands at 4.50pm Durham were 364 for 3 and leading by 49. Sussex take 15 points, Durham 10.It was an outstanding effort by the Durham pair whose partnership was also the county’s highest for any wicket against Sussex.Lees’ highest score in three Tests when he made his England debut against West Indies in March was a modest 31, but the left-hander faced 450 balls in that series and once again showed his powers of concentration here.The pair did a lot of the hard work needed to secure the draw by getting through 51 overs on the third day unscathed and the only chance either offered before they were parted came midway through the morning session when Lees was on 67 and mis-timed a pull off Henry Crocombe only for Crane to spill a regulation catch on the fine leg boundary.Ali Orr got his hand to the ball but couldn’t cling on to a very difficult chance at short leg when Lees was on 97, but shortly afterwards he reached his 19th first-class century, made in three minutes shy of five hours, to add to the unbeaten 182 he scored against Glamorgan earlier in the season.Sussex employed five bowlers in the pre-lunch session, but a slow pitch offering minimal lateral movement and only slow turn gave them little encouragement even when the new ball was taken immediately it became available.Lees hit a six and ten fours and faced 262 balls and it was a surprise when he smashed a full toss from Crane straight to deep mid-wicket. If that wicket owed a bit to good fortune Crane was delighted when wicketkeeper Mohammad Rizwan held a catch at the second attempt after Dickson got a thin under-edge cutting later in the same over. Dickson’s 186 included a six and 20 fours and was his second hundred of the season.Keegan Petersen and Scott Borthwick took their side past the first target to make Sussex bat again before persistent drizzle forced the teams off shortly before 3pm. They returned an hour later and Durham lost a third wicket when Borthwick pushed forward to Delray Rawlins’ left-arm spin and was athletically caught at slip by Rizwan, who had handed over wicket-keeping duties to Ali Orr by then and bowled a couple of overs of medium pace before the game ended.