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Nick Gubbins effortlessly struck his third LV=Insurance County Championship as Hampshire ground Somerset towards submission on day three at the Ageas Bowl.Left-handed batter Gubbins gracefully hit an unbeaten 139 – his highest score for Hampshire since joining from Middlesex – to move past 900 runs in the Championship this season.Together with Fletcha Middleton and James Vince’s half-centuries, Gubbins led Hampshire to a 501-run lead having forced Somerset to wallow in the south coast heat.Facing a minimum of 128 overs to bat out, the visitors slumped to 38 for 2 but Sean Dickson’s unbeaten 63 held them together. They reached the close on 102 for 2 with 400 still required to win.Hampshire’s title ambitions had been ended by 11am by Surrey’s victory over Warwickshire.Their openers Toby Albert and Middleton had tediously scored 45 runs in 23 overs the previous evening, but their lack of adventure paid dividends, having taken much of the lacquer off the ball. They batted with more intent as they took their partnership to 80 with little fuss, Middleton reaching his fourth fifty in his debut season.They both fell within four overs of each other, Middleton bowled two balls after reaching the milestone and Albert was caught and bowled by New Zealander Neil Wagner, on his Somerset debut.Gubbins had been incredibly slow, on an even slower pitch, in the first innings to take his seasonal strike rate to the third lowest in Division One – only Dom Sibley and Luke Proctor were slower for those who had scored more than 200 runs.This time around he showed an attacking flair, taking part of a cover-drive battle with Vince as he reached 50 in 81 balls. The 135 balls his subsequent century came in, were the fastest of his six tons for Hampshire.Lewis Gregory, although on the pitch, was not used at all on day three, while fellow opening bowler Jack Brooks only bowled five overs before the declaration.As such, Gubbins and Vince – whose 50 came in 66 balls – found the going easy with little pressure built to stop them from scoring at will. The run rate from the morning session 3.94 before moving to 4.97 in the afternoon.Vince was caught from behind to end a 162-run stand, but Tom Prest picked up where he left off to continue the flow of runs with Gubbins – who is enjoying the second-best Championship season of his career. The pair added 79 together before the long-awaited declaration came at tea.Liam Dawson was the main worry for Somerset, with the occasional spin more threatening than pace on a feather-bed. And it came to pass as the left-armer had Tom Lammonby stumped with his third delivery.Tom Abell followed when James Fuller’s extra pace was edged to second slip, where Vince took a sharp catch.Dickson and Andy Umeed showed tenacity and a backbone vital to save Hampshire from defeat. Dickson, in particular, looked in good order to reach his half-century in 86 balls.

If anything is to help this game reverse up Stalemate Close, it is probably the black saucers of earth that lie at each end of the pitch. Batters regard them with suspicion while spin bowlers, of which Lancashire have two specialists, view them with delight. If only our top order can build a lead, they thought this morning, we could frolic in the footmarks on Friday. So as expected, when play began at Emirates Old Trafford on this third day, three hours late and with 29 overs snipped from our ration, Lancashire put the hammer down on an attack lacking Ben Sanderson, Tom Taylor and Rob Keogh.Carnage followed. Big style. And Phil Salt played one of the innings of the season, scoring a century which outshone even those of Luke Wells and Josh Bohannon and reminding everyone, perhaps including Salt himself, that his talents need not be confined to white-ball cricketThat said, Northamptonshire’s injured bowlers have taken 39 of their side’s 108 Championship wickets in 2023 and this day’s two sessions showed how sorely they are missed. To a degree, it also revived memories of the evening’s cricket at Blackpool just over a fortnight ago, when Lancashire’s attack was shredded by Dan Lawrence and Doug Bracewell. This time, however, it was Keaton Jennings’ batters who did the shredding, scoring 377 runs in 67 overs and ending the day with a lead of 156 runs and power to add on the morrow.Even in the present era, such fast-forward cricket lent the evening unreality. The achievement of bonus points every 50 runs, significant partnerships and the batter’s individual landmarks blurred into each other and passed with notebook-defeating speed. Rounds of applause blended into each other, for there always seemed something for home supporters to clap. Wells reached his first century of the season off 171 balls, Bohannon his second off 143 balls and Salt also made his second three-figure score of the campaign, reaching that landmark off 74 balls with his third straight six to add to his 11 fours. So yes, there were plenty of big shots but what was most noticeable, particularly during Bohannon’s 126-run stand for the third wicket in 19 overs with Salt, was the whippet-speed of the running between the wickets as ones became twos if the fielder had to make any ground towards the ball.And as so often on such occasions, catches went down, some more culpably than others. White had little choice but to throw his catch at deep square leg back inside the boundary as he toppled over the rope, thus giving Wells a life on 78, but shortly afterwards Lewis McManus had no such excuse when he spilled a very straightforward chance off Dominic Leech. McManus was standing back, Leech was standing aghast and Wells was still standing on 85 not out.The one Northamptonshire fielder to emerge from the massacre with any credit was Ricardo Vasconcelos, who took an unremarkable catch to dismiss Wells off White for 119 and then a very remarkable, one-handed, diving effort off the same bowler to remove Bohannon for 128. But the loss of those wickets was acceptable collateral damage for Lancashire, although the same could hardly be said when Croft received a box-splintering blow in the knackers from White and fell to earth like a lightweight on the end of a haymaker.Salt’s dismissal, caught at deep square leg off White for a 77-ball 105 brought the curtain down on chaos. Nine overs from the close, Bell was caught on the deep square leg boundary by Vasconcelos for 15 and Croft and Tom Bailey later fell to Luke Procter, who, along with White, was the only Northamptonshire bowler who will wish to consult his bowling figures this evening. But those late successes seemed taken from another game, one far detached from the mayhem of a post-tea session in which 222 runs were scored in 35 overs, and one even further removed from the sight of Salt hitting fours and sixes that astounded even his batting partner.

Dean Foxcroft and Adithya Ashok have earned their maiden call-ups to the senior New Zealand men’s squad for the upcoming three-match T20I series against UAE, which is scheduled to be played in Dubai from August 17 to 20. The squad is also notable for the return of Kyle Jamieson, who has been out of action since undergoing back surgery in February.New Zealand are travelling to the UAE with a somewhat second-string squad, which is without regulars Finn Allen, Devon Conway, Matt Henry, Adam Milne, Daryl Mitchell, Glenn Phillips and Ish Sodhi.Related

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Those players, however, will return to the squad when New Zealand move to England for a four-match T20I series (August 30 to September 5) that immediately follows the UAE tour. Foxcroft, Ashok and five other players – Chad Bowes, Dane Cleaver, Cole McConchie, Henry Shipley and Will Young – will also travel to England, where they won’t be part of the T20I squad but will be in contention for the two warm-up T20 games against Worcestershire and Gloucestershire.According to the NZC release announcing the squads, allrounders James Neesham and Mitchell Santner, who have been picked on both tours, have secured short-term contracts that will allow them to play the closing stages of The Hundred in the UK between the UAE and the England T20Is.Kane Williamson (knee) and Michael Bracewell (achilles), who are recovering from injuries, were not available for selection.ESPNcricinfo Ltd

Foxcroft, a 25-year-old batting allrounder who bowls offspin, was named domestic player of the year at the NZC awards in March. He was the top run-getter in the Super Smash T20 competition, scoring 424 runs for Otago at an average of 47.11 and a strike rate of 131.26, and also took nine wickets in the tournament with an economy rate of 7.15. Foxcroft also performed strongly in the Plunket Shield first-class competition, in which he was Otago’s top run-getter with 631 at 45.07 while also picking up seven wickets at 29.71.Ashok is a 20-year-old legspinner who was part of New Zealand’s squad at the Under-19 World Cup. He made his first-class debut in the 2022-23 season and made a significant impact, picking up 19 wickets for Auckland in the Plunket Shield at an average of 27.84.Both Foxcroft and Ashok were part of the New Zealand A squad that played two first-class matches against Australia A in Lincoln in April.”It’s always exciting to introduce new players to the BlackCaps environment and especially so when they’re on the younger side, as Adi and Dean are,” New Zealand coach Gary Stead said. “Dean’s been a really consistent performer domestically and that was acknowledged by the awards he picked up in March. He’s a talented and adaptable batter who also bowls useful offspin – so will add to our spinning stocks which is always valued in white-ball cricket.”Adi’s only in his second year of professional cricket, but we’ve been impressed with his consistency and attitude with the Aces and when he’s joined New Zealand A and the winter camps. With Ish Sodhi not on the UAE tour it’s an opportunity to develop our next legspinner.”Stead was also pleased with Jamieson’s return.”Kyle’s worked really hard and made great progress to be available for this tour and we’re delighted to see him return after such a challenging year,” he said. “We’re all aware of his world class skills and I know he’s really excited to get back with the group.”

Australia A will host New Zealand A in two four-day games, including a day-night pink ball match, and three 50-over matches in Queensland in August and September as Cricket Australia unveiled its full domestic schedule for the 2023-24 summer.Australia A toured New Zealand in April for two four-day games, and a return series has been locked in for August and September in Brisbane and Mackay in Queensland. CA also announced there will be a Prime Minister’s XI four-day game against Pakistan at Manuka Oval in Canberra ahead of Australia’s first Test of the home summer against Pakistan in Perth on December 14. West Indies will also play a CA XI in a four-day tour game starting on January 10 at Karen Rolton Oval in Adelaide before the first Test of a two-Test series against Australia begins at Adelaide Oval on January 17.Related

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The Sheffield Shield season will run from October 3, 2023, until the final on March 21-25, 2024. There will be six Shield rounds before the first Test but the last of those six games begins on November 28 to accommodate the BBL starting earlier on December 7. That may mean that Australia’s multi-format players are likely to go without a red-ball game before the Pakistan Test series with the 50-over World Cup set to run from October 5 until November 19 in India. Australia are scheduled to then stay in India and play a five-match T20I series straight after the completion of the World Cup, prior to the home Test series against Pakistan.Players, support staff and management celebrate another Western Australia title•Getty Images

The Marsh Cup 50-over competition will remain as an eight-game tournament rather than a full 10-round home and away season with some matches also played at neutral venues. Two-time defending champions Western Australia will begin their tilt for a three-peat against Queensland at Allan Border Field on September 24. The majority of the Marsh Cup will be played prior to the BBL with each state playing their final two matches after the BBL has finished in late January. The Marsh Cup final will be played on February 25.The WNCL final will be played the day before on February 24. The women’s domestic season will begin on September 22 at Cricket New South Wales’ new facility, Cricket Central at Sydney Olympic Park. The venue will host WNCL, WBBL, and Marsh Cup matches this summer as well as its maiden first-class game with NSW to host Queensland in the opening round of the Sheffield Shield season. Adelaide Oval will also host a day-night WNCL match between South Australia and Victoria on January 29 as part of CA’s push to get more domestic women’s matches on the bigger international venues.There will also be a Governor General’s XI match against South Africa’s women’s team on January 24 at North Sydney Oval ahead of the women’s multiformat seven-match series against Australia starting on January 27.

Tash Farrant, England’s left-arm seamer, is to undergo surgery after suffering a recurrence of the lumbar spine stress fracture that ruled her out of the entire 2022 season.Farrant, 27, undertook an extensive rehab programme following the initial injury last May and returned to domestic action in April. However, she has played predominantly as a batter for South East Stars during this period, and will now miss the remainder of the Rachael Heyhoe Flint Trophy, as well as her stint with Oval Invincibles in the Hundred.”Following surgery, she will begin rehabilitation working together with the England and South East Stars medical teams,” the ECB said in a statement.The setback is a cruel misfortune for Farrant, whose last appearance for England was a one-off ODI during the Women’s Ashes in Melbourne in February 2022. She was subsequently an unused squad member during the Women’s World Cup later that winter, in which England lost to Australia in the final.

England have fired the first shots, or attempted to, in time-honoured fashion ahead of the men’s Ashes, now Issy Wong has joined in the salvo, saying it’s not a bad time to take on Australia Women with their multi-format series beginning next month.Wong made her debut in all three formats during South Africa’s tour of England last summer and is hoping to be part of the England side kicking off their Ashes campaign in a five-day Test at Trent Bridge from June 22.”I think it’s a pretty good time to play them, you know, just quietly,” Wong said. “They are undoubtably, in my opinion, one of the greatest sports teams in history, of any sport, of any gender. Their record over the last 10 years is absolutely outrageous.Related

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“But it feels like that kind of golden era they’ve had is… you’ve had Rach Haynes retiring, [Meg] Lanning stepping away, obviously coming back in ridiculous form, but there’s a lot of new faces in that group that are unbelievably talented but haven’t necessarily played the biggest part for them over the last couple of years. I think it’s a really good time to actually go at them and say, ‘right, you are the best team in history, but you’ve a couple of new faces in here and let’s see if you’re as good as you were five years ago.’ I think it’s great time to play.”I’ve never played them though,” she added, bursting into laughter. “I’ve watched them on the telly a lot, they look great.”Wong wasn’t part of England’s T20 World Cup squad which fell to hosts South Africa in the semi-finals before Australia won the title for the third time in a row, captained by the returning Lanning after five months away from the game last year. But Wong did return to action in the inaugural WPL, winning the trophy with Mumbai Indians and finishing as the third-highest wicket-taker with 15 at 14.00, which included a hat-trick in the eliminator against UP Warriorz.Part of her reasoning about the Australians relates to her experience in India, having played against a number of her potential Ashes foes there, believing that also playing with and against them at the WBBL and in the Hundred – where she will again represent Birmingham Phoenix when the 2023 edition commences in August – demystifies them somewhat.”I’ve never played them but I don’t view them as ‘the Australians,'” Wong said. “They’re going to have Beth Mooney and Alyssa Healy opening the batting, Meg Lanning’s going to bat at three, then in that middle order you’re going to have [Tahlia] McGrath, [Phoenix team-mate Ellyse] Perry, [Grace] Harris. You’ve played against these guys so much that you get to know them and, not necessarily even know their games, but they’re humans at the end of the day and humans do good things and humans do bad things.”That landscape changing, the more franchise stuff, is actually going to even out the playing field on an international level because people are playing against each other a lot more.”People say, ‘Oh, don’t you think it’s going to make international cricket less good if David Warner’s best mates with Jonny Bairstow because they open the batting for Sunrisers Hyderabad?’ I think that’s rubbish because actually it’s going to make the competition a lot better. You’ve got these guys playing against people that they know and those are the best battles because each person’s having to adapt their game and do things a little bit differently. When they’ve played against each other a lot, they’re working each other out and that’s how the game is evolving.”Wong celebrates after dismissing Alyssa Healy in the WPL eliminator•Getty Images

Wong’s comments come within a week of Stuart Broad’s contention that Australia’s 4-0 victory over England Men in their ill-fated Ashes tour of 2021-22 didn’t count as “a real Ashes”, with the Covid-19 restrictions it was played under making it a “void series” in his view, and six weeks after Ollie Robinson said the side which has reinvented itself under Brendon McCullum and Ben Stokes since could “give Australia a good hiding” this time around. But they are no less bold against an Australia Women’s side which lost just one match – to India in a Super Over – in 2022, also holds the ODI World Cup and has not lost an Ashes series since 2013-14.Asked whether now was a good time for her to play against the Australians in the Ashes personally, Wong responded: “My opinion, yeah. I also think it’s a great time for me to play up front for Liverpool. Does Jurgen Klopp share that opinion? No. There’s some things that you’ve got power over there’s some things that you don’t. I’m always going to be up for it, that’s my personality, but I’ve got to control those things that are in my control. I’m in control of if I’m up for it. I’m up for it. But you never know I guess.”Wong earned her first England cap in the drawn Test against South Africa in Taunton last June. She ended the match with three wickets, including two in two overs on a rain-affected penultimate day. She also featured in the white-ball section of South Africa’s tour before playing all of England’s matches at the Commonwealth Games, where the hosts finished a disappointing fourth.She sat out the most recent WBBL with a minor back complaint and amid ECB concerns over workload management before a quadriceps injury forced her to miss England’s tour of the Caribbean and therefore a chance to press for T20 World Cup selection in front of new coach Jon Lewis. In terms of the WPL providing a platform to prove a point after her omission, Wong agreed that it did, although not in the way one might expect.”They picked their squad and unfortunately for me this time I wasn’t in those plans,” Wong said. “I probably had a half-hour of sulking, or not sulking but feeling sorry for myself, licking my wounds, then I had to get up and go to training. So there’s not a whole lot I can do about it now and that period before the WPL I had probably three weeks at home where I could put in some good yards, come on a bit in training hopefully and then fly out to India.”I was keen to show the progress I’d made, not necessarily that I should have been out there because if I’d picked the squad, I’d have been out there and probably my 14 best mates would have been because that’s just how I’d pick the squad, isn’t it? But it was very much show the progress that I’d made over the last four months and hopefully the potential of progress that I’ve got for the future.”