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Former England opener set to discuss playing future at end of season

Matt Roller21-Sep-2023Essex have played down suggestions that Alastair Cook will announce his retirement from professional cricket this week, saying they will hold talks with him about his future at the end of the season when his contract with the club expires.The reported on Thursday morning that Cook will call time on his career at the age of 38, five years after his final international appearance, and suggested that an announcement could come after Essex’s ongoing Championship fixture – also their final home game – against Hampshire at Chelmsford.Cook signed a two-year contract with Essex ahead of the 2022 season and has yet to agree a new deal, prompting rumours in recent weeks about an impending retirement. ESPNcricinfo understands that the club have discussed Dean Elgar as a potential overseas signing for next summer, who would represent a like-for-like replacement.But the club responded to the ‘s story by issuing a statement saying that no decision had been reached: “Essex Cricket would like to clarify that, contrary to news articles published today, Alastair Cook will be discussing his playing future with the club at the end of the current season.”The club said that both Cook and the rest of the squad were “fully focused on the last two LV= Insurance County Championship matches and on being involved in a close-fought race for further honours.”Essex started this round of games 18 points behind leaders Surrey, but were on top against Hampshire at lunchtime on the third day while Surrey struggled against bottom-placed Northamptonshire.Cook has been a mainstay of Essex’s Championship side since his England retirement, playing 62 first-class games across the last five seasons, including this week’s fixture against Hampshire. In that time, he has averaged 42.67 with 11 hundreds, and was part of sides that won the Championship in 2019 and the Bob Willis Trophy in 2020.This season, he is the eighth-highest run-scorer in Division One with 808 at 36.72, including six half-centuries and one hundred.

England spinners share six wickets as SA’s spirited chase is undone with room to spare

Firdose Moonda18-Jul-2022England completed a clean sweep over South Africa after scoring their fifth-highest ODI total and out-spinning the visiting line-up. Tammy Beaumont led the batting effort, with her ninth ODI century, in a perfect riposte to being left out of the Commonwealth Games squad, while Charlie Dean and Emma Lamb took six wickets between them.That means a target over 300 has still yet to be chased in women’s ODIs but, if it’s any consolation to them, South Africa put on their best batting performance of the series. Laura Wolvaardt scored her 29th ODI half-century, Marizanne Kapp her 11th and Chloe Tryon her 10th, but no South African batter managed three figures. England had centurions in all three matches, which was ultimately the difference between the two teams.In scorching weather, with the mercury hitting 35 degrees in parts of the country, Sune Luus chose to field first but whether the heat led to the lethargy in South Africa’s effort is debatable. With controversy over Lizelle Lee’s retirement still stalking the squad, South Africa struggled to focus in the field and were unable to maintain consistent lines and lengths.As has been the case throughout the series, they offered too much width and were ill-disciplined, sending down four no-balls and 15 wides in total and conceding 47 fours and three sixes – 206 runs in boundaries. For comparison, England’s attack were hit for 30 fours and four sixes – 144 runs.Perhaps even the best efforts of South Africa’s attack would not have been able to stop Beaumont, who was a casualty of England’s youth-first policy for the forthcoming T20Is but showed the value she adds with an innings of authority. Beaumont and opening partner Lamb brought out the cut and the expansive drive to bring up England’s fifty in the ninth over and finish the Powerplay on 66 without loss.South Africa had the opportunity to get rid of both them relatively early on. Lamb was on 34 when left-arm spinner Nonkululeko Mlaba induced an edge but Trisha Chetty could not hold on. Three overs later, Lamb and Beaumont brought up their century stand, to mark the first time England have had consecutive three-figure opening partnerships, and then South Africa’s wheels truly came off.Danielle Wyatt played a neat cameo of 33 off just 14 balls•Getty Images

Lamb was on 54 when she launched Mlaba to long-on, where Andrie Steyn put down a simple catch. Off the next delivery Beaumont, having just reached fifty, offered Mlaba a return catch, which was dropped. And at the end of that over, Chetty fluffed a simple run-out chance when Lamb set off for a single that wasn’t there, Wolvaardt fired in a flat throw and Chetty did not collect cleanly. If that didn’t hurt enough, England rubbed it in as they took 26 runs off the next two overs including Beaumont hitting Tryon over the sightscreen for six.South Africa had some joy when Lamb tried to lap Shabnim Ismail and instead lost her off stump, to fall for 65 and finish as the series’ leading run-scorer with 234 at 78.00. The dismissal did nothing to slow Beaumont down, however – she flicked, drove and pulled Ismail for three successive boundaries to get England to 172 for 1 at halfway.Beaumont brought up a century off 93 balls with a single off Mlaba. By then, Sophia Dunkley had settled in too and the pair shared in a stand of 87 for the second wicket, with Dunkley going on to her fourth ODI fifty. Danni Wyatt’s cameo of 33 runs off 14 balls included 24 runs off Nadine de Klerk’s seventh over to leave her with match figures of 1 for 87 in eight overs. England scored 97 runs in the last 10 overs to leave South Africa with a mountain to climb.Getty Images

Wolvaardt started the reply strongly and was the major contributor in a 61-run opening stand with Andrie Steyn. Dean bowled Steyn to make the first breakthrough but South Africa ended the Powerplay on 69 for 1, with Wolvaardt well set. She brought up fifty with her 10th boundary, a cracking cover-drive, but her poor conversation rate suffered another blow when she was trapped on the pad, playing the sweep against Dean too early.Luus had the opposite problem and was too late to play a shot when she cleared the front pad to hit Lamb to the leg side and was also out lbw, and when Lara Goodall chipped Alice Davidson-Richards to mid-on, South Africa’s chase was all but up.Kapp and Tryon kept them in it with a 110-run fifth-wicket stand and England may just have been getting worried at 219 for 4 in the 36th over when Lamb offered width, Kapp went for a big stroke and sent a catch straight to point. South Africa lost their last six wickets for 43 runs and were bowled out with 4.2 overs remaining.

Decision keeping in mind life for all-format players in bio-secure bubbles and workloads in a year of non-stop cricket

ESPNcricinfo staff27-Feb-2021Jasprit Bumrah has been released from India’s squad for the fourth and final Test against England in Ahmedabad, starting March 4, because of “personal reasons”, with the BCCI saying that there will be no replacements sent across. This now pegs the squad strength at 17. Bumrah had earlier been left out of the squad for the series of five T20Is and three ODIs that will follow the Tests.ESPNcricinfo understands that Bumrah has been allowed to rest as part of the team’s plan for managing the players as well as their workloads. This is keeping in mind (a) life in the bio-secure bubbles during the Covid-19 pandemic, and (b) the packed schedule for the rest of the year, starting with the white-ball segment of the England series, the IPL, a possible World Test Championship final in June, followed by five Tests in England from July, and then the T20 World Cup in October-November.Coping with life in a bubble was one of the key challenges highlighted by the Indian team management during the recent tour of Australia, where players were forced to stay inside team hotels because of strict regulations imposed on them by the various state governments.Bumrah played in front of his home crowd at Motera for the first time in the recently-concluded third Test that finished on Thursday. India wrapped up the game inside two days to take a 2-1 lead in the series, which strengthened their chances of making the WTC final against New Zealand at Lord’s.This series marked Bumrah’s first appearance in a Test on home soil when he featured in the series opener in Chennai, where he picked up four wickets in India’s 227-run loss. He was then rested for the second Chennai Test. Earlier this week, he didn’t have much of a role in the third game too, bowling just six wicketless overs in England’s first innings in a ten-wicket Indian win scripted by their spinners.After the game, India captain Virat Kohli jokingly told Murali Kartik on the official broadcast: “Bumrah said that ‘I am getting workload management while playing the game’, and Ishi [Ishant Sharma] said ‘it’s my 100th game and I’m not getting to bowl’. I said, ‘you have to blame this guy [Axar Patel, the Player of the Match with 11 wickets] who is just coming in and bowling in areas that is making life so much more difficult for the batters’, and, yeah, the spinners were outstanding in this game and there was just no room for anyone else to do anything; the game was so fast and it all happened so quickly, that it was just not possible to bring anyone into the game.”Umesh Yadav and Mohammed Siraj are the other two pacers India can call upon in Bumrah’s absence. Yadav was added to the squad ahead of the third Test after recovering from a calf injury he sustained on the tour of Australia.If the team management chooses to play an extra spinner or an allrounder, then Kuldeep Yadav or Hardik Pandya could come into the fray.India’s squad for the fourth Test: Virat Kohli (capt), Rohit Sharma, Mayank Agarwal, Shubman Gill, Cheteshwar Pujara, Ajinkya Rahane (vice-capt), KL Rahul, Hardik Pandya, Rishabh Pant (wk), Wriddhiman Saha (wk), R Ashwin, Kuldeep Yadav, Axar Patel, Washington Sundar, Ishant Sharma, Mohammed Siraj, Umesh Yadav

Players body alleges that board has not paid up for using players’ images, despite having agreed to do so previously

Firdose Moonda23-Oct-2019Cricket South Africa is facing a third legal battle after the South African Cricketers Association (SACA) launched a formal dispute over unpaid fees relating to last year’s Mzansi Super League (MSL). This comes after SACA already has another case against CSA over the restructuring of the domestic setup and the Western Province Cricket Association has taken CSA to court for putting it under administration amid concerns over its financial affairs.The latest saga is over CSA’s alleged failure to pay an agreed amount for use of the players’ commercial rights. In a statement, SACA explained that the agreement was made between CSA and the Players Trust and granted CSA rights to the players images to be used for the tournament. In return CSA were obliged to pay money to the Trust so that the players could be paid.”Unfortunately CSA has persistently refused to pay an agreed amount relating to the use of the players commercial rights and consequently the players have yet to be paid for these. This has occurred despite CSA having benefited from the use of the rights in last year’s MSL,” SACA CEO Tony Irish said.”We have been trying to resolve this with CSA for many months but have now reached the point where formal steps have to be taken as players remain out of pocket.”The second edition of the MSL starts next month.SACA also confirmed there have been delays with the progression of its other matter against CSA, regarding the restructure. According to SACA, CSA have not struck to the timelines to enable the matter to be finalised swiftly.”In normal circumstances one would have expected the court application to be heard in or around October this year,” Irish said. “However, failures on the part of CSA to comply with the time periods provided for in the rules of court have led to unnecessary delays. CSA also failed to respond for a long period to attempts to establish a process aimed at resolving the issues around the domestic restructure. All of this has obviously been very frustrating for SACA and it creates uncertainty for the players.”SACA are opposing CSA’s plans to dismantle the current six team franchise structure and instead have a 12-team provincial structure which will effectively mean there is only one tier of domestic cricket. At the moment, there are two, with the players in provincial structure considered semi-professional and therefore paid less. In merging the two tiers, CSA hopes to have a uniform structure but SACA believes up to 70 players could then lose their jobs.”SACA remains committed to the court application as this is necessary to deal with CSA’s decision to unilaterally impose a new domestic structure on the players without consultation and in clear breach of signed agreements between SACA and CSA. This imposed structure, if allowed, would lead to a very significant number of provincial players losing their careers as professional cricketers and it would also give rise to the likelihood of substantial cuts in the earnings and benefits of franchises players. In addition we believe that it will weaken the standard of our top flight domestic cricket across playing formats, at a time when we can ill afford to do this.”SACA also continue to state communication with CSA remains rocky despite CSA’s assertions to the contrary. “None of our concerns on this front have been dealt with,” Irish said. “Instead we are now excluded from attending CSA’s finance and commercial committee meetings.”I wish to emphasise that despite all of this SACA remains willing to sit down with CSA in a genuine and good faith attempt to resolve these issues. We wish to play a responsible role in dealing with the financial picture and we know that many of the issues require mutually agreed solutions. This has to happen however in the context of good faith engagement between us, as the representative of the players, and CSA.”

Although the New Zealand opener returned to form, his team couldn’t mount a good enough total thanks to Thomas and his fiery yorkers

The Report by Peter Della Penna30-Aug-2018Jamaica Tallawahs exacted revenge for their bungled chase in Florida exactly one week earlier, with a five-wicket win over Barbados Tridents thanks to a sterling bowling effort spearheaded by Oshane Thomas. They are now the sole team at the top of the points table.Thomas’ yorkers wreaked havoc on Tridents in the Powerplay and at the death as the hosts were held to a well-below par total of 151 for 9 after being sent in.Johnson Charles began peppering the fence on the legside in his first fifty of the season and the seventh fifty-plus score by a Tallawahs batsman this year to give the Tallawahs early momentum in their chase. Wahab Riaz did his best to drag the Tridents back as the Tallawahs failed to score a boundary for five overs following the end of the Powerplay but Rovman Powell came in at No. 4, following the wicket of Charles, and produced a breezy 35 not out to seal the victory.No doubting ThomasTridents had already suffered the loss of Hashim Amla – lbw missing a sweep to Samuel Badree in the second over – when Thomas bowled one of the balls of CPL 2018. Shai Hope was on strike when a heat-seeking, outswinging yorker nearly knocked him off his feet as it crashed into the base of off stump. That was only the start of another long night for the Tridents, who slumped to 56 for 5 when rain took the teams off in the 10th over.Thomas put his stamp on the tail too. Coming back towards the end of the innings, he cleaned up Wahab with another laser-guided missile into the base of the stumps. Seven different bowlers took wickets on the night for the Tallawahs, but Thomas still managed to stand out.Total recallAfter totalling just 26 runs in four innings, including two ducks, Martin Guptill was dropped by the Tridents in the previous match against Trinbago Knight Riders. But his replacement – Shamar Springer – ran himself out first-ball during the course of a heavy defeat. Seeing how Plan B had failed, the team management brought Guptill back into the XI and the result was the second-highest score by a Tridents batsman this season.Guptill was the only batsman in the top six to reach double-figures, ending with 73 off 60 balls, including a 60-run sixth-wicket stand with Imran Khan. He struck some impressive blows, launching Colin de Grandhomme’s first CPL delivery onto the Kensington Oval roof to start the sixth over, and flicking Powell over long leg for another lost ball in the 18th. One ball later though, he pulled Powell to Andre Russell at long-on and Tridents’ last hope for a strong finishing kick was back in the pavilion.Charles in chargeIn 2016, Charles and Andre Fletcher formed a menacing opening combo to take the St Lucia franchise to their only playoff appearance in the CPL. He struck four fifties that year. Having ransacked 441 runs, he finished second on the top-scorer’s list just 13 behind Chris Lynn. Last season, however, was a major struggle, leading to a change of scenery with the Tallawahs.Charles had always been threatening to break free this year, with scores of 24, 31, 42 and 34 in his four innings, and finally went past fifty on Wednesday, capitalising on some very poor lines as the Tridents medium-pacers, resulting in a flood of runs through square leg and midwicket.Charles did all the heavy lifting in the chase, scoring 53 of the first 67 runs for the Tallawahs before getting out in the ninth over. Powell took over from there, cracking Mohammad Irfan for two sixes and a four in the space of four deliveries in the 14th over to bring the required run-rate down to a-run-a-ball. David Miller and Russell fell in the space of four legal balls after a pair of handy cameos before de Grandhomme slashed the winning boundary to third man in the 18th over.

Fast bowler Shannon Gabriel was unavailable as he continues his rehabilitation from an injury that kept him out of the series against Afghanistan; West Indies are unchanged

ESPNcricinfo staff18-Jun-20170:44

A squad with only two centurions

West Indies have named an unchanged 13-man squad for the first two ODIs of a five-match series against India, opting for continuity after the 1-1 result against Afghanistan earlier in June.Fast bowler Shannon Gabriel was unavailable as he continues his rehabilitation from an injury that kept him out of the series against Afghanistan, meaning the hosts will be without their premier fast bowler for their most important series this season. The reasons for its importance are not just pragmatic – India brings the most lucrative TV revenues – but also cricketing. West Indies are ranked ninth in the ICC ODI table, with only the top eight guaranteed qualification for the World Cup in 2019. The drawn series against Afghanistan did not help, and this series could represent their last realistic chance to avoid playing a potentially awkward qualifying tournament, where the top two teams will go through to the tournament in England.India arrive in the Caribbean off the back of a Champions Trophy run to the final, where they finished runners-up to Pakistan. The first ODI is on Friday (June 23) at Queen’s Park Oval in Trinidad and Tobago.West Indies squad: Jason Holder (capt), Devendra Bishoo, Jonathan Carter, Roston Chase, Miguel Cummins, Shai Hope (wk), Alzarri Joseph, Evin Lewis, Jason Mohammad, Ashley Nurse, Kieran Powell, Rovman Powell, Kesrick Williams

Kolkata Knight Riders have roped in former South Africa wicketkeeper Mark Boucher as a wicketkeeping consultant for the remainder of IPL 2016

ESPNcricinfo staff05-May-2016Kolkata Knight Riders have roped in former South Africa wicketkeeper Mark Boucher as a wicketkeeping consultant for the remainder of IPL 2016.Boucher, who played more than 450 international matches, was reportedly signed after the tournament began. He will join his former team-mate Jacques Kallis, who is head coach of the franchise, in the Knight Riders team management. Knight Riders have two wicketkeeper-batsmen in their current squad – Robin Uthappa, who is the first-choice keeper, and Saurashtra’s Sheldon Jackson.Boucher has played in the IPL previously, turning out for Royal Challengers Bangalore between 2008 and 2010, and Knight Riders in 2011. He played 147 Tests, 295 ODIs and 25 T20Is, notching up a record 998 international dismissals, before a freak eye injury ended his career.Boucher is the latest to join a group of high-profile South African coaches in the IPL. This includes Delhi Daredevils coach Paddy Upton, Mumbai Indians fielding coach Jonty Rhodes, Rising Pune Supergiants bowling coach Eric Simons and Royal Challengers Bangalore bowling coach Allan Donald.

N Srinivasan has said he will stand for re-election as BCCI president at the Indian board’s annual general meeting, to be held in Chennai on September 29

Amol Karhadkar19-Sep-2013N Srinivasan has said he will stand for re-election as BCCI president at the Indian board’s annual general meeting, to be held in Chennai on September 29. The announcement is not a surprise but his success, a foregone conclusion a few months ago, is now hostage to several legal and judicial issues that are beyond his control and may crystallise formal opposition to him.Under BCCI rules, any presidential candidate has to be nominated by two associations from the incumbent’s home zone – south zone in Srinivasan’s case, and that is where the focus is shifting.As Srinivasan left the BCCI headquarters in Mumbai on Thursday after attending a meeting of the board’s marketing committee, he was asked if the other members from south zone were standing besides him. His response was succinct: “I am going to stand,” he said, before taking a dig at the media for speculating on the numbers game in the event of an election.While Srinivasan has made his candidature public, it cannot be ascertained at this point if the murmurs within the board opposing Srinivasan’s stubbornness to hold on to the chair will turn into a credible organised lobby sufficient to match Srinivasan both in terms of stature and power. The early runner seems to be Shashank Manohar, Srinivasan’s predecessor, a lawyer with a no-nonsense yet low-profile attitude.Manohar hasn’t yet made any concrete or public move towards returning to job he left in 2011 but it is believed that efforts are on to persuade him to contest against Srinivasan. One official privy to the developments told ESPNcricinfo that Manohar has shown interest but he is still gauging his support, especially from the south zone.Manohar, who hails from the central zone, will need a proposer and a seconder from the south zone – most of whose members are staunch Srinivasan loyalists. It is believed that the anti-Srinivasan lobby – comprising senior politicians in New Delhi who are also part of the BCCI top brass – has been exerting political pressure on the Goa Cricket Association to shift its allegiance from Srinivasan.The same lobby is also working on the Andhra Cricket Association to be the other member needed to set up a candidate. “Our stand is still undecided. We will discuss with our member units and then decide, since there is no hurry as such,” an ACA official said on Thursday.Both sides also have an eye on two important legal developments that could impact the election. One involves the IPL fixing case, in relation to which Srinivasan’s son-in-law Gurunath Meiyappan was arrested in May. Mumbai Police is expected to file its chargesheet any day and the gravity of the charges against Meiyappan could play a part.Srinivasan himself has already been chargesheeted – in his capacity as managing director of India Cements – in a corruption case involving a top political leader from Andhra Pradesh. If he is arrested in this case – and it is not impossible, given the high-level political machinations at work – then the board might agree to replace him as the BCCI president, even though the issue has nothing to do with cricket. “If that happens, we will have to find a new face,” a Srinivasan confidant conceded.It is these uncertainties that the Cricket Association of Bihar has sought to tap into through a public appeal to the BCCI members. The CAB – which is not a part of the BCCI – had filed the petition in Bombay High Court against the constitution of the IPL probe commission and on Tuesday made a “sincere appeal” to BCCI members to reject Srinivasan’s candidature. “He continues to be in a ‘step aside’ situation as president,” the appeal said. “The BCCI cannot afford to have a president who will be in a permanent state of ‘step aside’ and not be involved in its day-to-day affairs.”Despite all this, Srinivasan remains the most powerful person in the board and the man to beat in the elections. He has the support of many member associations but, as the BCCI AGM draws closer, the equation within the board could yet change dramatically.

Bangladesh are grouped with Pakistan and New Zealand and have ambitions of making it past the preliminary stage

Mohammad Isam20-Sep-2012

Overview

How Shakib Al Hasan fares in Sri Lanka could determine whether Bangladesh makes it past round one•AFP

The World Twenty20 in Sri Lanka will be as much a test of Bangladesh’s skills and preparation as a measure of their progress as an international side. They’ve been grouped with a team they crushed in ODIs two years ago, and the contest in Pallekele will be Bangladesh’s first against New Zealand since that 4-0 result. The other, and more recent, source of confidence is their wins against India and Sri Lanka during this year’s Asia Cup, when Bangladesh qualified for the final.Even Bangladesh’s poor record against their other Group D opponents should provide extra inspiration. They haven’t beaten Pakistan in 13 years, though in their last two matches they showed the readiness to fight, especially in the Asia Cup final in March.Bangladesh’s performance in that tournament is now considered the marker by many, though expecting the players to take a step further in the World Twenty20, where one bad over or shot could see them knocked out of the group stages, might be asking too much. They’re primarily focused on making it past the New Zealand game unscathed and hoping for a Super Eights berth. It is a realistic target for a team that played a quarter of all their Twenty20 internationals four months before the World Twenty20.

Key player

Shakib Al Hasan considers himself a leader in the team, and rightly so. He provides match-winning ability to a team that needs it, despite the presence of other talented players. Shakib’s batting and bowling averages are substantially better in Bangladesh wins in the past six years, a measure of his contribution to the team’s cause. He will be playing with a dodgy knee and will bat at No 3. The bowling attack will also revolve around his left-arm spin.

Surprise package

In Ziaur Rahman, Bangladesh finally have an end-over hitter who can clear his right leg and swing powerfully. After an awkward teething period in Zimbabwe, Rahman hit eleven sixes during the build-up tours and broadened his range from just midwicket. He can use his feet against the spinners but high pace will test him: when he encountered such bowling against South Africa in June, Rahman settled for boundaries and the odd nudge. A fast-bowling talent cut short due to injury, Rahman reinvented himself as the sort of a shock-value player Bangladesh has lacked since Mohammad Rafique’s heyday.

Weakness

Spin will test the Bangladesh batsmen, especially Pakistan’s offspinners. They tend to play out overs, which is a flawed strategy in a Twenty20 game. Also, they can be inflexible when things don’t go according to plan. A recent example of this was the middle-order collapses after Shakib’s dismissal during the two practice games in Sri Lanka.

World T20 history

A surprise win over West Indies took them to the Super Eights in 2007, but they failed to make it past the group stages in 2009 and 2010.

Recent form

Bangladesh have won four games out of six in 2012, results that include the 3-0 series win over Ireland in July. That performance took Bangladesh all the way up to No. 4 in the Twenty20 rankings but they returned to ninth three days later, after an unflattering start to their series in the Netherlands, where they won once and lost twice. One of those defeats was against Scotland. During an off-season dedicated to Twenty20, Bangladesh also won unofficial matches against South Africa, Zimbabwe, Afghanistan and Barbados on either side of the Europe tour.

Essex Eagles won a thrilling Clydesdale Bank 40 clash against Lancashire at Old Trafford by six wickets with two balls

14-Aug-2011
ScorecardEssex Eagles won a thrilling Clydesdale Bank 40 clash against Lancashire at Old Trafford by six wickets with two balls to spare thanks in the main to century-maker Mark Pettini and Owais Shah.It meant Essex kept their hopes of qualifying for the semi-finals alive as they chased down 258, all but ending their opponents’ last-four hopes in the process. Essex always had wickets in hand as they chased but Lancashire’s bowlers squeezed well in the field to leave the visitors needing 114 off 66 balls with eight wickets in hand.Pettini and Shah, however, shared 111 in 14 overs for the third wicket, punishing Sajid Mahmood, Oliver Newby and Steven Croft’s offspin in particular. Pettini finished with 104 off 101 balls and Shah 75 off 56, hitting a combined total of 12 fours and three sixes.This was Lancashire’s first defeat in 12 one-day matches in both competitions but they were the team in the ascendancy at the halfway stage thanks to Karl Brown’s maiden one-day hundred. After James Foster had elected to bowl, Lancashire calmly built a platform on a good pitch as opener Stephen Moore scored 69 off 67 balls.He shared 84 for the third wicket with Brown before the latter and Gareth Cross (58 not out off 51 balls) added an unbroken 119 for the fifth wicket inside the last 15 overs of the innings. They also wreaked havoc in the last six overs, amassing a whopping 80 runs.Cross hit Graham Napier for two leg-side sixes, both parried over the fence by Chris Wright and Adam Wheater, and he and Brown reached their respective milestones in the last over, bowled by left-arm spinner Tim Phillips and costing 19. Brown finished on 101 not out off 86 balls, including 10 fours and a six.Ravi Bopara, fresh from the Edgbaston Test, took the two wickets of Croft and Moore with his medium pace. And he played a part in the Essex chase with 39 off 53 balls, sharing 88 inside 17 overs for the second wicket with Pettini.Despite the fact the Eagles, now level on 13 points with second-placed Nottinghamshire after 10 matches, had wickets in hand, they were dropping further and further behind by rate. But Pettini and Shah reduced the target of 114 off 66 balls at its toughest to nine off the last over with some power hitting and good running as the home attack unusually lost their way.Gary Keedy and Newby got rid of Pettini, stumped by Cross, and Shah, caught at cover by Tom Smith, within the last three overs. But it was not enough as Ryan ten Doeschate hit the winning runs to delight the home dressing room.