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Haseeb Hameed will miss MCC’s season curtain-raising fixture against the Champion County, Middlesex, next month, to undergo a sinus operation.Hameed, who made a strong impression in three Test appearances for England against India last year, before leaving the tour early with a broken finger, is currently in Sri Lanka with the England Lions squad.His intention is to play in the second four-day game against Sri Lanka A, which starts in Dambulla on Friday, then head home for surgery.

MCC squad for Champion County match

Alex Lees (Yorkshire), Tom Alsop (Hampshire), Sam Northeast (Kent, captain), Ben Duckett (Northamptonshire, England), Joe Clarke (Worcestershire), Ben Cox (Worcestershire), Lewis Gregory (Somerset), Matt Coles (Kent), Liam Plunkett (Yorkshire, England), Mason Crane (Hampshire), Jack Leach (Somerset)

“It’s something I’ve needed to do for a while, and this is a good time to do it,” said Hameed. “It’s disappointing to miss the chance to play for the MCC against Middlesex, because it was an honour to be selected. But by having the operation in early March, I will be fit for the start of the season with Lancashire.”Hameed has been replaced in the MCC squad by Alex Lees, the Yorkshire opener, who will be joined by his county team-mate Liam Plunkett following the withdrawal of their fellow Yorkshireman, Matt Fisher, who suffered a groin injury when captaining England Under-19s in India earlier this month.John Stephenson, MCC’s Head of Cricket, said: “Of course it is a shame that Haseeb and Matt have had to withdraw from the squad, but we have two excellent replacements in Liam and Alex who will add experience and firepower. Our team is full of exciting young English cricketers and I am really looking forward to seeing them in what should be a very competitive and engaging match.”

With a career-best 5 for 24 to underline his No. 1 ranking in both limited-formats, Imran Tahir seems to have everything he could want at the moment, except maybe one thing.”I wish I could have muscles like him,” Tahir joked, the day before the one-off T20 against New Zealand in Auckland.The person Tahir was referring to was Sonny Bill Williams, the New Zealand rugby player, boxer and signature bad-boy-turned-good, who is a close friend of Hashim Amla. Amla introduced Williams to Tahir and other team-mates including Wayne Parnell two years ago and they make a point of catching up when they’re in the same country, and Tahir is still in awe of Williams’ superstardom.”When I first met him I was shaking because we were walking on a street in Auckland and I could see people’s reaction and I was blown away,” Tahir said. “He stopped for everyone and took pictures. I’ve never seen someone who’s that famous.”Cricketers in South Africa seldom get similarly swamped, not even when they are dominating internationally the way Tahir is, and he knows that a more imposing physique will not change that. “I’m happy with what I am – I’m not jealous of him,” Tahir clarified, amid some giggles. Imagine a Tahir with bulging biceps and thunder thighs.Jokes aside, Tahir’s body will soon come up in discussions about how much longer he will be able to play. He turns 38 next month and has been playing cricket at a high level for two decades but has managed to avoid major injury. Being a spinner, whose action does not cause as much wear and tear as a quick bowler’s would, he is thought to have at least another two to three years, although he has suggested he could keep going for between five and ten. That doesn’t seem so outlandish when considering that Tahir has stayed fit and become more athletic and agile in the field than he was when he first emerged on the international scene.Tahir’s dedication to his craft has only increased as his career has progressed. He maintains that having waited so long to play for South Africa – Tahir moved to the country in the mid-2000s but only become eligible to play for them in 2011, when he was 32 – he wants to hold on to it for as long as he can.And there is maybe one other thing. The IPL auction takes place in three days’ time and this T20 was a last audition for some of the players looking to get deals – though Tahir insisted it was only a passing thought to him. He was released by Delhi Daredevils and has a base price of US$75,000, which is just short of a million South African Rand.Given how well Tahir has been performing recently, he is expected to fetch more than that. So while he may not have the muscles, he could soon boost his earnings by more than a million in one day.

Chris Rogers, the former Australia batsman, is refusing to abandon hope of helping Somerset to a first Championship title.Rogers retired at the end of last season in emotional circumstances as Somerset, Championship leaders going into the last day of the season, watched on TV at their Taunton headquarters as Middlesex stole the prize with a last-gasp victory against Yorkshire.That seemed to be it for Rogers, as far as Somerset were concerned, but he will return as a batting coach and player mentor for the first half of the forthcoming season.As yet, there seems no possibility that Rogers, at 39, will strap on the pads again – even if an obvious opportunity will open up mid-season when Dean Elgar, the batsman signed to replace him, heads off for South Africa’s Test series in England.And if Somerset are harbouring even the tiniest hope that Rogers might make a dramatic comeback they certainly aren’t saying.Matt Maynard, Somerset’s director of cricket, is just delighted that Rogers will be returning to the southwest. “Chris made a massive impact both on and off the field last year,” he said. “He was a huge part of what we achieved in the summer and was by far the outstanding candidate for the position. It goes without saying that we are delighted he will be working with us again in 2017.”He knows exactly what we expect from our players and is familiar with the culture that we have created within the dressing room. He will join us on March 1 and will be with us until June 30 and in that time he’ll act as our batting coach. In addition to that he’ll also work with the whole squad in a mentoring capacity.”The young players will learn a tremendous amount from him and he’ll ensure that the more experienced guys maintain the high standards that they set last year.”Regarding his return Rogers said: “Last year Matt Maynard and I floated the idea of coming back in a coaching capacity if I did retire and I’m greatly appreciative that he and the club have given me this opportunity to work with the players and develop my own skills.”Coaching is something I feel passionate about as well as giving back to the game and I couldn’t think of a better place to start than at Somerset and learning from the staff there.”The club made some significant strides last year and hopefully I can help Somerset achieve some silverware in 2017. It’s nothing more than the supporters deserve.”

Robin Uthappa has been left out of Karnataka’s 16-man squad for the Ranji Trophy quarter-final against Tamil Nadu, which starts on December 23 in Visakhapatnam. The team’s line-up will be boosted by the availability of KL Rahul, Karun Nair and Manish Pandey, all of whom are currently with the India Test squad in Chennai.

Karnataka squad for quarter-finals

Vinay Kumar (capt), KL Rahul, R Samarth, Manish Pandey, Karun Nair (vice-capt), Stuart Binny, CM Gautam (wk), Kaunain Abbas, Abhimanyu Mithun, S Aravind, K Gowtham, Shreyas Gopal, Pavan Deshpande, Abrar Kazi, David Mathias, Mayank Agarwal

Rahul and Nair, who made 199 and 303 not out respectively in the final Test against England, will join the squad directly in Visakhapatnam along with Pandey. The 13 other players and the support staff will fly out on Tuesday, following the conclusion of a five-day training camp at the Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bangalore.”With the three batsmen back, selection was a tough process. We collectively decided to rest Robin since we couldn’t play him in the XI,” R Sudhakar Rao, KSCA’s chairman of selectors, said on Monday. “The newcomers have done well and it would have been unfair to drop them, so we have taken the decision keeping the future of Karnataka cricket in mind.”Uthappa, the side’s highest run-getter last season, has made 328 runs in 12 innings at 27.33 in 2016-17. His only century came against Assam in October. With no fifty-plus score in eight innings since, he was left out of Karnataka’s final league fixture against Maharashtra in Mohali.”There is nothing wrong with his batting, but sometimes numbers matter, especially when people are waiting to get a chance. It’s just the numbers,” head coach J Arunkumar said. “Last year, at the start of the season, he was trying out a few things. After a point, I told him to stop focussing on that and focus on making runs. Soon after that, he started making runs. Even this season, I was hoping something like that would happen.”We thought that one game before the knockout we should try somebody out just in case of an injury, or if somebody is not allowed to play because of national duty. We just wanted to try Pavan Deshpande and Arjun Hoysala to see if the guys belonged in that space and if they are confident enough.”We wanted to make sure we are going in prepared for the knockout stages. Otherwise Robin is batting really well. He’s getting off to great starts and he’s getting out to some odd balls. It’s sad that we have to rest a big player. We need big players like him, because they have been there and done that.”

Wes Durston has called time on his Derbyshire career by mutual consent.Durston, 36, leaves Derbyshire after making 218 appearances since his debut in 2010, scoring 7,628 runs across all formats. He also skippered Derbyshire in limited-overs cricket.Cricket advisory director, Kevin Dean said: “Wes has been a tremendous player for Derbyshire and we would like to thank him for his efforts over the last seven seasons. He made many notable contributions down the years, no more than in our 2012 promotion winning season, but both parties feel that the time is now right to move on. We wish Wes all the very best for the future.”Durston’s uncomplicated see-ball, hit-ball approach made him a favourite with Derbyshire supporters and probably testified to a late-developing career that had a reawakening in his thirties after he had been released early by Somerset. But he began to show his age in 2016 and with the new director of cricket, Kim Barnett, intent on a shake-up, his departure is no surprise.

Peter Moores has been appointed as Nottinghamshire’s head coach, as the club aims to bounce back from a disappointing 2016 season.Moores, who was signed as a coaching consultant at Trent Bridge in July 2015, has been handed a three-year deal and takes over the day-to-day running of the first team from Mick Newell, who will continue to oversee the club’s wider fortunes as director of cricket.In addition to his two spells as England head coach, from 2007 to 2009 and again from 2014 to 2015, Moores took charge of the ECB’s National Academy Director for a two-year period from April 2005 and is a two-times winner of the County Championship, with Sussex in 2003 and with Lancashire in 2011.”To be offered the chance to become Head Coach of a Club like Notts, at a venue as special as Trent Bridge, is a terrific honour,” said Moores.”Working with cricketers one-to-one for the last year has been an ideal way to get me back in to county cricket, and it means I already know this group of players very well, which will give me a head start in some ways.”The passion for being a head coach again is there and the club has the ambition to be competing for trophies across all three formats of the game, so it’s a fantastic opportunity.”The appointment comes at a perilous moment for Nottinghamshire, who look doomed to relegation from the top tier of the County Championship. However, with Yorkshire on the look-out for a new director of cricket following confirmation of Jason Gillespie’s impending return to Australia, the club has moved quickly to retain the services of a man whose coaching abilities are held in high esteem on the county circuit.Newell, who has been in charge of Nottinghamshire’s first XI since 2002, guided the county to two Championship titles in 2005 and 2010, but has accepted the time is right to step back from club’s day-to-day running.”Having a director of cricket and head coach working in partnership is something that’s happening a lot in county cricket, and we feel the time is now right to introduce it at Notts,” said Newell.”Peter will run the professional squad his way, he’ll pick the team and we’ll now work closely together in reviewing everything we do in relation to our playing and coaching, to ensure that we’re ready to bounce back strongly from what’s been a disappointing season.”It’s also vitally important that we work on our player pathway, ensuring that we’re doing everything right to develop our professional and international players of the future.”

With Mitchell Starc now extending his impressive form from the Tests into the ODIs, Sri Lanka have settled on a batting plan: see Starc out safely.Starc was already miserly during the first ODI. He did not concede a boundary in his 10 overs, which cost only 32. But he was also penetrative, taking three wickets. Each of those dismissals, however, was the result of an expansive drive gone awry. Sri Lanka captain Angelo Mathews said his team would seek to shelve the ambitious strokes against Starc, even if the pitch for the second ODI is better for batting than the previous surface.”We have a clear plan for him – to refrain from attacking him, so that we don’t give him wickets,” Mathews said. “If we can score 40 or 50 runs off him, we feel that we can catch up against the other bowlers. Because he’s bowling well, we should give him that respect. But at the same time we also have to put his loose balls away.”Starc became the fastest bowler to 100 ODI wickets on Sunday, but did not return the best figures of the evening. James Faulkner took 4 for 38 in his ten overs, and used slower balls to excellent effect.”With James Faulkner, his variations were excellent on that pitch, because of how dry it was,” Mathews said. “We struggled with those variations, so we’ll come with a plan tomorrow.”As far as Sri Lanka’s bowlers are concerned, left-arm wrist spinner Lakshan Sandakan took two wickets in his debut match but, as in the Tests, proved expensive as well, giving away 33 runs in five overs. Like in the Tests, Mathews brought him on to bowl relatively late in the innings. His first over was the 25th of the chase.”I wanted to spread the field a bit and bring Sandakan in with that protection – I didn’t want to bowl him in the Powerplay. We also have Amila Aponso, who bowled brilliantly, and also Dilruwan Perera, who’s very experienced in international cricket. I wanted to bring Sandakan on against guys like Matthew Wade and Faulkner, who haven’t seen him much. He didn’t bowl that well in the last Test, so he’s a bit low on confidence. I wanted to make sure to bring him on later and give him that protection.”Sri Lanka’s XI for the first ODI did not feature a specialist quick, with allrounders Thisara Perera and Mathews himself the only seam options. An injury to Nuwan Pradeep has now ruled yet another quick out of contention, but the hosts have named a batsman in Pradeep’s place. Coach Graham Ford said newcomer Angelo Perera may play at some point in the series.”The selectors felt that Angelo Perera played really well in England,” Ford said. “He’s a very capable player. I remember him from the first time I was involved with the team. He has a chance of playing. He had a good net today, so there’s a chance that he could be considered.”

ScorecardMustafizur Rahman had to wait for his visa but starred on debut•ESPNcricinfo Ltd

Bangladesh pace bowler Mustafizur Rahman starred with four wickets for 23 after only arriving in this country on Wednesday, while Chris Jordan made amends for running out in-form New Zealander Ross Taylor with a match-winning 45 off 21 balls that contained five mighty sixes, to give Sussex only their second NatWest T20 Blast win in eight games.Mustafizur, whose arrival at the club had been delayed by visa issues, instantly impressed his new club with a match-sealing display.”It has taken some hard work to get Rahman here, and a lot of people have worked hard to make it happen. Now we can see why he was worth so much time and effort,” said Sussex’s captain, Luke Wright. “He is a very special bowler. He has put in a performance straight away that was very special to watch.”It is so hard to pick what he is going to do. In the warm-up we were trying to work him out and we couldn’t. Credit to our keeper Craig Cachopa who kept really well to him tonight – it is not easy when you’ve had no time to watch him before or to have faced him.”He got a flight yesterday so he’s come straight in and bowled like that. We have a very special talent on our hands.”Chasing 201 to win, Essex were ahead of Sussex’s comparative totals until the last four overs, and they had no one capable of matching Jordan’s late fireworks. Essex, losing for the second game in a row, finished 25 runs short thanks to the wiles of 20-year-old Mustafizur.Sussex had started well enough with fifty coming off the six powerplay overs. Chris Nash needed little help but received a dollop when Tom Westley’s shy from deep point missed the stumps, bounced up awkwardly off a matted wicket, wrong-footing Ryan ten Doeschate, and eluding two more fielders as it sped away for a five.Nash, who had hit Paul Walter for two successive fours through the off-side in the first over, was first to go when he scooped Matt Quinn into Browne’s hands at midwicket for a 16-ball 25.Luke Wright had just got into his stride when he was out. The Sussex captain nudged Lawrence almost out of James Foster’s hands for four and then cleared Westley on the long-on boundary for six. He tried again next ball but the ball dropped short and Westley took the catch diving forward. Wright’s frustration at going for 32 was palpable.Ashar Zaidi’s first two overs had gone for just 10, but the spinner’s third went for a match-changing 28 as Phil Salt got his measure. Salt moved from 12 to 33 in the space of a seven-ball over with two sixes over the offside boundary, plus two fours in the same area, before Taylor clubbed another maximum from the final ball.But Zaidi extracted a measure of revenge when he took the catch at short third man, two balls into the next over from Ravi Bopara, that saw the back of Salt for 33 from 19 balls. Bopara also stemmed the flood of runs with just two conceded from his second over.Bopara claimed his second victim when Westley took another catch on the long-leg rope to dismiss Matt Machan before Sussex lost Taylor, who went for a quick single from the non-striker’s end to Callum Taylor at midwicket only to find Jordan immovable.Jordan thumped a six to cow corner off Walter and then two more hooked and pulled off Bopara to give Sussex’s innings late momentum. Craig Cachopa also hammered Walter for six and had helped put on fifty for the sixth wicket in three and a half overs before he was pinned lbw by Graham Napier for 18. Jordan, though, kept going and belted two more sixes from Napier’s over.Essex’s reply got off to a bad start when Browne top-edged Tymal Mills to Rahman at fine leg in the second over before Lawrence and Westley set about righting the ship. They had the fifty up in the fifth over with Lawrence depositing Jofra Archer over long on and Westley taking two boundaries in three balls off Mills.The second-wicket partnership was worth 47 in little more than five overs when Archer trapped Westley lbw.Lawrence landed a second six over long-on off spinner Will Beer. But he was third man out, having just past his previous highest T20 score, when he played all around a delivery from Beer and was lbw for 36 from 26 balls.Zaidi had started slowly, but clobbered Beer through midwicket for four and then lofted him for six slightly squarer on the leg-side. But the former Sussex player was controversially run out for 18 when he appeared to be obstructed by the bowler Mills as he turned for a second run. The two players collided, Zaidi looking as if he barged into the fielder, and after a short debate the umpires upheld their decision.Bopara followed, hitting high but not too far as Wright pouched the catch at mid-on to give Mustafizur a first wicket. Crucially, that 16th over only went for two runs and Essex were still 66 from their target. Mustafizur took two wickets in three balls when he rearranged the stumps of James Foster and Callum Taylor, and then had ten Doeschate caught by Mills at backward point.

Mignon du Preez has announced that she will step down from captaining the South Africa Women’s team in all formats with immediate effect. She will be succeeded by legspinner Dane van Niekerk.Du Preez, who has led South Africa in 46 ODIs, 50 T20Is and a Test match in her four years as captain, said her decision to step down stemmed from a desire to focus more on her batting.

CSA contracts 14 women for 2016-17

Cricket South Africa has announced the 14 players who have been awarded contracts for the 2016-17 season:
Dane van Niekerk, Trisha Chetty, Mignon du Preez, Marizanne Kapp, Shabnim Ismail, Dinesha Devnarain, Matshipi Letsoalo, Moseline Daniels, Chloe Tryon, Sune Luus, Lizelle Lee, Masabata Klaas, Ayabonga Khakha, Andrie Steyn

“This was an incredibly difficult decision and took a lot of introspection, but ultimately I believe that this is the best step forward not only for myself, but for the team,” du Preez said. “Stepping down from the captaincy role will give me an opportunity to work on my own game, which has taken a downturn in the last couple of seasons. I believe I can make a better contribution by putting runs on the board, and offering support and advice to the next captain.”At 23, van Niekerk already has considerable international experience, having played 56 ODIs, 57 T20Is and a Test match. She described the appointment as “the biggest honour of [her] career so far”.”Captaining my country has been a dream since I began playing cricket, and I am humbled that CSA have chosen me for the job,” van Niekerk said. “I would like to thank Mignon for paving the way and bringing the team this far. I look forward to filling her shoes as best I can and moving the team forward.”

ScorecardBen Raine top-scored for Leicestershire and then took three wickets•Getty Images

Yorkshire Vikings were never in the hunt against Leicestershire Foxes who beat them by 54 runs with eight balls remaining in the NatWest T20 Blast at Headingley.It was a disappointing start to the campaign for Yorkshire, who are desperate to do well in the competition this season under a new young captain in Alex Lees, but who drew only 6,000 to Headingley.Leicestershire could feel delighted with the result after opening with a defeat to Northamptonshire last week.Chasing a 175 victory target, Yorkshire failed to put a substantial stand together in a game which was dominated by Ben Raine and the O’Brien brothers, Kevin and Niall.Raine top-scored with 48 before opening the bowling and capturing 3 for 7 in his 3.4 overs. Niall O’Brien powered his way to 39 while Kevin hit 21 and then took three for 27.Yorkshire lost wickets at regular intervals and openers Adam Lyth and new one-day captain, Alex Lees, were both out inside the first five overs, Lyth driving Raine to mid-off and Lees turning Kevin O’Brien to leg-gully.Only Will Rhodes showed any real form, coming in at 32 for 4 and smacking 45 with three fours and two sixes before departing at 109 for 9 by driving Neil Dexter to Tom Wells at long off, by which time the game was well and truly lost for Yorkshire.A late flurry of sixes had revitalised the Foxes’ innings with 102 coming off the final ten overs. It was off the fourth delivery of the 14th over that Niall O’Brien straight drove Lyth for the first six of the match but another eight were to clear the rope in the remaining overs for Leicestershire to close on a competitive 174 for seven.All four of Niall O’Brian’s boundary shots in his 39 off 21 balls came from six hits while Raine included two fours and two sixes in his 48 from 43 deliveries.But Lewis Hill was responsible for the final flourish with three mid-wicket sixes in the last over from Ben Coad who gave away 22 runs, Hill ending unbeaten on 24 from just nine balls.Yorkshire did not have their best night in the field as three catches were put down, the easiest being when Raine, who had just pulled Adil Rashid for two sixes, survived a simple chance to Liam Plunkett on the mid-wicket boundary.Things began encouragingly for Yorkshire as Tim Bresnan, in his first appearance of the season after being sidelined with a calf muscle tear, started with a wicket maiden, Pettini forcing his fifth ball straight into the hands of Rhodes at point.Bresnan’s new ball partner, James Wainman, also enjoyed an early success on his T20 Blast debut. In Wainman’s second over, Mark Cosgrove, who had struck 20 from 11 balls, was caught at deep square leg by Coad.Bresnan and Plunkett each claimed two wickets but Leicestershire kept battling away and their destructive hitting late on proved to be decisive.