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Alyssa Healy has ruled out making this year’s ODI World Cup a farewell party, revealing recent injuries could persuade her to push back any retirement plans she might have had.Healy’s path back to cricket will be confirmed on Tuesday, with the wicketkeeper to be named as part of an Australia A squad to face India A in Queensland in August. The matches will be the Australia captain’s first since the Ashes success at the start of the year, when she missed games with a stress fracture in her foot and did not keep wicket in others.She has endured a difficult year fitness-wise, also missing the finals of last year’s T20 World Cup with the foot injury and having a knee issue end her WBBL season early.Related

• India to host Australia for three ODIs ahead of women's World Cup

• Women's ODI World Cup: India vs Pakistan on October 5 in Colombo

The 35-year-old then sat out ODIs in New Zealand and the WPL in India as a result of her injuries, but said she has been fit and able to play since March.Healy has often joked she had decided to retire from cricket five or six times before opting against it, and revealed that earlier this year she had an ideal exit scenario. But that will not be after the October-November World Cup, with a hunger for cricket while injured meaning her yet-to-be-revealed plans could be pushed back.”It’s probably shifted a little bit,” Healy told AAP. “It’s made me realise that I still want to do a little bit more than maybe what I thought. At the same time, sometimes there’s stuff in life that are a little bit more important than pulling on the green and gold. So it’s just a constant reassess.”But at the moment I definitely want to play a home summer. I want to bring the World Cup home, but also to play against India [in February-March].”Tuesday marks 100 days until Australia’s opening World Cup game against New Zealand, with the India tournament presenting a real challenge for the defending champions.Australia are gunning to be the first side to win back-to-back in the tournament in almost 40 years, with the team having faced a large transition since 2022.Forming a pathway to the ODI World Cup was part of Healy’s pitch when she took over the captaincy when Meg Lanning retired in 2023.”That was one of my goals, putting a timeline on it and saying ‘this is where I could take this group’, even not knowing what I was going to do personally,” Healy said. “It definitely was a big focus of mine, to get the group to a place to compete at this World Cup, and win the trophy.”It’s not so much about the captaincy [driving me], or ticking one more box. It’s just that I want to win a World Cup for Australia, and no one has gone back-to-back, which is a real motivator.”Healy has not kept wicket in a match since January, but was confident the Australia A series and subsequent ODIs in India would have her fit for up to nine World Cup matches in 32 days.”According to science, the ODI World Cups is one of the heaviest loads that we go through as cricketers,” Healy said. “My aim is to play every game of that World Cup. So to make sure I can do that’s important.”

Nathan McSweeney showcased why he remains firmly in Test calculations with a gritty half-century in the face of some phenomenal seam bowling from Scott Boland and Fergus O’Neill who took nine wickets between them to leave Victoria and South Australia locked in a tight arm wrestle after two days at the Junction Oval.O’Neill took his fifth career five-wicket haul to maintain his outstanding Sheffield Shield record, while Boland claimed 4 for 53 with spells that were every bit the equal of the best he has shown at Test level, to bowl South Australia out for 283 and give Victoria a narrow two-run first innings lead. That advantage swelled to 48 as Campbell Kellaway and Marcus Harris batted impressively in the final hour of the day.Victory is crucial for Victoria if they are to maintain a realistic chance of making the Shield final.Related

• South Australia target rare double after finding winning 'belief'

• Kellaway holds firm amid Buckingham and Thornton four-wicket hauls

Their lead would have been more without McSweeney’s 199-ball 60 in very challenging batting conditions. He only struck six boundaries and had to defend and leave stoutly in the face of some high-quality bowling from O’Neill and Boland who delivered 38.4 of the 67.4 overs he was out there for.He began the day on 9 off 52 balls and was unable to gain any fluency early after Jason Sangha was adjudged lbw not offering a shot to O’Neill for 19.Jake Lehmann helped break the shackles with a breezy 40 off 43 balls that included two thunderous drives down the ground. O’Neill switched ends to break the 54-run stand, nipping one back from around the wicket to pin Lehmann lbw.McSweeney started to flow from there despite the loss of Liam Scott, who was also trapped plumb infront by an excellent Xavier Crone yorker. Scott’s front foot slid from under him to leave him on all fours as the finger was raised.McSweeney kept accumulating with the help of Harry Nielsen. But O’Neill’s accuracy was unrelenting. McSweeney eventually nicked a good length delivery on off stump to Blake Macdonald at slip who held the low chance.Nielsen and Ben Manenti then counterattacked against the old ball as Boland and O’Neill rested before the new one was due. The pair added 61 for the seventh wicket before Boland returned to remove them both in quick succession.Manenti flashed a drive against the second new ball and nicked to Macdonald at first slip. Boland then nipped one back through Nielsen’s gate from around the wicket to splay off stump in almost identical fashion to Conor McInerney’s dismissal on the first evening. But Nielsen’s 45 was vital in the context of the match.Brendan Doggett and Henry Thornton combined to frustrate Victoria, adding 34 for the ninth wicket before O’Neill switched ends again to take the final two wickets. He took a sharp return catch to remove Doggett for 19 before clean bowling Jordan Buckingham.It set up a tricky 16-over period in the evening session for Kellaway and Harris to negotiate. But the pair left and defended well against the new ball while rotating the strike impressively to give Victoria the chance to build a significant lead on day three.

Aaron Finch believes Australia should drop Marnus Labuschagne for the World Test Championship final against South Africa at Lord’s in June with his lean run having extended too far to be accommodated.Australia face some tough selection calls for the final following the recent successful debuts of Sam Konstas, Beau Webster and Josh Inglis which has led to a battle for batting spots.Related

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• Australia emerge from Test season with flying colours and new options

• Australia face Labuschagne call amid batting squeeze

Travis Head, who opened in Sri Lanka, said he expected Konstas to regain his position at the top of the order against South Africa while Cameron Green is in the frame to play as a specialist batter as he recovers from the back surgery that ruled him out of this season.It leaves Labuschagne, who has one century in his last 51 Test innings and an average of 31.54 since the start of the 2023, under significant pressure for his spot for the first time since establishing himself in 2019.”I’ve gone with Cameron Green or Josh Inglis. They’re at No. 3,” Finch said on ESPN’s when the panel was asked to pick their XIs for the WTC final.”And the reason is, I just think that [Labuschagne’s form] is such a concern because it’s been over four series. If it’s over two or three, I think that you can say, you know what, he’s just around the corner. But the fact that it’s been four, to me, that’s a really alarming sign.Marnus Labuschagne is the Australia batter under scrutiny•Getty Images

“Josh Inglis, I think to get him into the side, he will get that opportunity. Or if Cameron Green is healthy, he just provides so much extra to that bowling line-up as well as with the batting. He’s got the ability to bat anywhere in the order.”However, Michael Clarke and Callum Ferguson retained Labuschagne in their sides for the decider although Clarke said it could be make or break.”I hope they pick him for the Test Championship [final],” Clarke said. “It’s completely different conditions against a different team. He’s played a lot of county cricket. He knows English conditions as well as anyone.”Remember, he bats in the hardest place as well. I think No. 3 is the hardest place to bat in Test cricket. You’re right, the numbers don’t tell a lie. He’s out of form. He’s due.”And to me, I reckon the Test Championship…could be his last opportunity. Going to West Indies, I would like to think that’s an opportunity to give a young player a go if Marnus makes no runs in this Test Championship. If he does, then no doubt he holds his spot because he’s been a wonderful player.”Ferguson, meanwhile, would include both Labuschagne and Green with the latter batting at No. 6 and backing for frontline bowlers.”I’m backing the four bowlers in to get the job done in a one-off hit out in a Test match,” he said. “We didn’t use Mitch Marsh a lot over the last few years. He’s been in that No. 6 position. So we’ve played effectively without that stone cold all-rounder in that position, bowling 10 overs a day. So that’s how I see it.”Stand-in captain Steven Smith backed Labuschagne to emerge for his slump, seeing similarities in how he was low on runs before making four centuries in his last five matches.”Marn’s similar to me, in a way,” Smith said. “I’ve said this a lot of times about myself, there’s a difference between being out of form and out of runs.”I don’t think he’s out of form, personally. I’ve watched him train, I’ve watched him play and a lot of the things that he’s done so well are there. He knows he’d love to score more runs, we’d love him to score more runs, but in my opinion, it’s just around the corner.”

Grant Bradburn has been fired as Glamorgan’s head coach with immediate effect, following a recent charge of misconduct by the independent Cricket Regulator.Bradburn, 58, was referred to the regulator by the club after receiving allegations of inappropriate behaviour. In a press release, they said they were “confident a fair and transparent process has been followed in this case”.Glamorgan have a “zero-tolerance policy towards discriminatory behaviour of any kind”, the club added.Having completed their own internal investigation, Glamorgan said it was clear Bradburn’s position was untenable and the club is now providing the appropriate support to those affected.”At Glamorgan we put the well-being of our people first and are providing support for those affected,” Mark Rhydderch-Roberts, the club chair, said.”We’re incredibly proud of our track record in terms of making sure everyone who is involved with the club feel they are respected, belong and are treated fairly.”Bradburn had been in charge at Glamorgan for a solitary season, in which time he oversaw the club’s victory in the Metro Bank One-Day Cup, in a rain-shortened final at Trent Bridge in September. The club also finished sixth in both the second division of the County Championship, and in the T20 Blast South Group.He had joined Glamorgan in January on a three-year deal, after a brief tenure as Pakistan men’s head coach. He had initially joined the PCB as an assistant coach in 2018 before becoming head of high-performance coaching in 2020.

Incoming Cricket Australia chief executive Todd Greenberg has warned that cricket faces the greatest headwinds of domestic sports in the country but also has huge opportunities for growth and believes the game remains at the heart of Australian society.Greenberg was appointed as the successor to Nick Hockley earlier this week and will take up the role in March. The current Australian Cricketers’ Association CEO and former CEO of the National Rugby League, Greenberg had long been the front-runner for the job although CA undertook a global search for candidates.Greenberg decided to pursue the CA role when he concluded to himself, via a question on a whiteboard at home, that he could have a greater impact at head office than remaining with the ACA. He made clear he wanted to allow Hockley to complete his tenure without interference, but is well aware he will have a significant inbox of issues – both local and global – when he officially takes the role.Related

• Todd Greenberg announced as new Cricket Australia CEO

“I’m a realist,” he said speaking alongside CA chair Mike Baird in Adelaide ahead of the day-night Test against India. “I’d say this to you, and I said exactly the same thing to the board, in my view, in Australian sports, cricket has the biggest challenges coming to it of all the domestic sports, but it also has the greatest opportunity and ambition and to marry those two things together will be the definition of success. There are lots of challenges.”Pressed to expand on a major issue that will be at the forefront, he added: “I think it’s pretty clear that the global system of cricket is changing. Franchise cricket is putting pressure on bilateral cricket, and the way we have known cricket for such a long time in this country is changing in front of our very eyes.”That change can be really good and positive and commercial. We have to get our heads around that. Cricket is not a sport that has traditionally loved change, so we have to embrace that, and that takes leadership [and] it will take some courage, but it will also take us working together. You won’t hear a lot of ‘me’ and ‘I’, you’ll hear a lot of ‘us’, because it takes a village, and it’s going to take an entire cricket village, if we’re going to turn the ship.”Engaging with the fansGreenberg remained adamant that cricket retains a key place in the minds of the Australian public but believes there is work to be done in the relationship between them and Cricket Australia. It was a point also raised by Baird in a recent interview with newspapers where he referenced the resting of key players from the final ODI against Pakistan.”I think that’s got some real improvement to make,” he said. “And I think the improvement starts with just communication. We want to explain the reasons why we might do certain things. And again, that might polarise opinion. Sometimes people might not agree, and that’s okay, but I think it starts from the premise of being really strong communicators, and you’ve got one of the best in the business as the chair, and I’m going to hope to sort of support him on that.”As ever for a CA CEO, there will also be the challenge of maintaining relationships with the state and territory associations which can often bring points of tension.”They’ll always be matters of conflict and there’ll be difficult conversations,” Greenberg said. “But the conversations you resist are the conversations you probably most need to have. So being honest and upfront with people and building relationships. I think we’ve done a good job of that in the game over the last couple of years, but I don’t think that work’s anywhere near finished.”Steve Smith and Pat Cummins look on at training•Mark Brake/Getty Images

An aging men’s Test teamGreenberg also acknowledged there would need to be some tough conversations about how to manage the transition of players in the Test side which currently has just one – Nathan McSweeney – under the age of 30 amid concerns that there could be an exodus of talent in a short space of time that leaves the team exposed.”We do have a more aging side, particularly in red-ball cricket, and that won’t be easy,” he said. “There have to be hard and honest conversations between players and staff, and I think those are happening to be fair. In saying that, though, the professionalism of modern athletes are tending to take them longer in their careers; the way we take care of them, the way we rehab them, the way they take care of themselves. I think it’s a very fine balance. We’ve got an incredibly successful two teams. Our men and women have had an amazing couple of years. Let’s make sure we keep our foot on the gas and continue to support them.”Greenberg was confident that the strong relationship he has built with the players in his four years at the ACA will continue even though he will now need to take an overarching view of sport.”It does bring a different way [of looking at the game],” he said of his new role. “But in saying that, I think one thing I’ve been consistent on over my four years is that, and the message has been delivered to the players, they’re probably sick of me saying it to them, but for them to grow, the game’s got to grow, and we need to go together. The players enjoy a revenue share, which means if the sport grows, they grow with it. And so I’ve been consistent from day one [saying], if the players in the game work together, we can just about achieve anything.”

Stumps Ravindra Jadeja bowled 22 unchanged overs in the oppressive heat and humidity of Mumbai to pick up his 14th Test five-wicket haul and help bowl New Zealand out for 235. However, India threw away the advantage with the loss of three wickets in the last two overs of the day to end at 86 for 4.Jadeja had to work much harder for his wickets than New Zealand did at the fag end of the day. It included bowling through the whole middle session, during which Washington Sundar, who took four wickets, went off the field to rehydrate, and the batters got drinks almost every three overs.Jadeja’s was a timely intervention, as Daryl Mitchell and Will Young, half-centurions both, threatened to run away to a big total on a pitch that showed enough signs – with puffs of dust and variable turn – that it was going to be a nightmare for the side batting last. Mitchell and Young added 87 runs in a fourth-wicket partnership that looked under more threat from dehydration than the bowling.The collapse from 159 for 3 to 235 all out brought some respite for India, playing to avoid their second-ever series whitewash at home (of two or more Tests) and also vital WTC points. However, the last two overs – Yashasvi Jaiswal bowled to a reverse-sweep, the nightwatcher Mohammed Siraj burning a review, Virat Kohli running himself out – were a downer for them.Virat Kohli was run out looking for a quick single•BCCI

That’s because they had got into a desirable position after Tom Latham won another important toss and got the right to bat in the best batting conditions of the match. He led New Zealand’s initial progress even though he lost Devon Conway to Akash Deep from around the wicket. A pace attack missing Jasprit Bumrah was only going to go so far. R Ashwin came on to bowl as early as the eighth over, the last time of the day he would be considered the likeliest spinner to get wickets.Latham scored 28 off 44 before a vexing one-two from Washington sent him back. From a near identical spot, with near identical seam orientation, Washington beat the inside edge one ball and the outside edge next ball to take out top of off stump. For the third time in three times of asking, Washington hit the off stump of Rachin Ravindra with a near identical delivery to leave New Zealand delicately poised at 72 for 3.The half-an-hour to lunch was a nervous period for Young and Mitchell as both their edges were threatened regularly. Post lunch, though, the pitch settled down for an hour and a bit. With the temperature hitting 37 degrees, the high humidity of the coast and little breeze, this session tested everybody’s fitness. The batters got a drink every couple of overs to go with iced towels or ice packs around their necks.Every now and then, the ball turned if Jadeja slowed it down, but he was looking for quick turn. Young and Mitchell, though, looked at ease. The sweeps and reverse-sweeps were employed to good effect, but Young also danced down the wicket to languidly loft the ball. This was Young’s first fifty of the series even though he has given the impression he has been the most comfortable batter on either side.Ravindra Jadeja acknowledges the cheers after his 14th Test five-for•BCCI

Washington, Siraj and Ashwin bowled from the other end, but Jadeja kept going from his. Towards the end of the session, he got what he wanted: turn at high pace. Now he was in it. Young edged to slip one that turned at 94kph. Three balls later, Blundell saw one pitch on leg and hit off at 92kph. Puffs of dust started making more regular appearances.Now Jadeja took full control. He kept attacking the stumps with subtle changes of pace and the occasional undercutter. He took out Glenn Phillips with one that didn’t turn to go past Zaheer Khan and Ishant Sharma into the list for top-five wicket-takers for India.India began the final session with Jadeja and Washington again, something that will hurt the competitor in Ashwin. Jadeja wasted little time to dismiss Ish Sodhi and Matt Henry in the same over. Sodhi fell to one that turned and stayed low, and Henry was bowled on the off to Jadeja’s slowest wicket-taking delivery: at 90kmph.Whatever the support staff did to Mitchell during the tea break worked wonders as he found enough energy to hit three sixes in three Washington overs after having struggled to run during the middle session.Mitchell didn’t farm the strike with the No. 10 for company, but eventually made a mental error by guiding a flat delivery straight to slip just like how coaches do during catching drills. Not before having scored 82, though. Ajaz Patel, on whom lay the onus to improve dramatically from Pune, hit a six before padding up to one that didn’t turn, giving Washington his fourth wicket.Daryl Mitchell celebrates his fifty•Getty Images

Rohit Sharma enjoyed some early luck as Will O’Rourke dropped him at long leg, but his attacking mindset meant he had committed too much to a forceful shot when Henry seamed one ball away. The Rohit that went to England in 2021 would have had time to bail out, but now he just edged it to second slip.Jaiswal and Shubman Gill weathered the storm to assuage fears of a repeat of what happened in Pune. They even began to dominate the bowling in a 53-run second-wicket stand. Then, with about ten minutes to stumps, Jaiswal was beaten on the reverse-sweep, the first time he has got out to the shot in Test cricket having tried it 14 times previously for 36 runs. Ajaz then bowled perhaps his best delivery to Mohammed Siraj first up, pitching on leg and hitting off. For some reason, though, Siraj decided to review it.Amid the DRS drama, Kohli walked in for the first time this series without an applause for the wicket preceding him. Part-time spinner Ravindra tried the old left-arm-spinner-full-toss trick but Kohli got past the lethal delivery – it had been his downfall in the previous Test – with a boundary. However, he couldn’t get the better of his own instinct of running with the shot despite hitting the ball firmly enough to mid-on. The only way Kohli could survive this was if Henry misfielded or missed. He did neither.

Former Sri Lanka international Dulip Samaraweera has received a 20-year ban from Cricket Australia for conduct that has been described as “utterly reprehensible” and he will not be allowed to hold any position within CA, the state associations, BBL or WBBL clubs during that time.Samaraweera, 52, was found to have committed a serious breach of CA’s Code of Conduct during his time as a Cricket Victoria employee with a CA Code of Conduct commission banning him for 20 years following an investigation from CA’s Integrity Department after complaints about his conduct had been made.Samaraweera, who played seven Tests and five ODIs for Sri Lanka between 1993 and 1995, was a long-time Victoria women’s and Melbourne Stars WBBL assistant coach before being elevated to the Victoria women’s senior coaching role earlier this year, only for him to resign just two weeks into the role after being denied an appointment he wanted to make to his staff due to the state’s policies.The serious code of conduct breach was separate from that issue. CA’s Commission found Samaraweera had engaged in inappropriate behaviour that breached section 2.23 of CA’s Code of Conduct. The behaviour is alleged to have been involving a player.Cricket Victoria CEO Nick Cummins released a statement condemning Samaraweera’s behaviour.”We strongly support the decision taken by the Code of Conduct Commission today, banning Dulip Samaraweera for 20 years,” Cummins said. “It is our view that the conduct was utterly reprehensible and a betrayal of everything we stand for at Cricket Victoria.”The victim in this case has demonstrated incredible strength of character and courage in speaking up. She will continue to receive our ongoing support to allow her to achieve her goals on and off the field.”From an organisation perspective, the safety and wellbeing of everyone at Cricket Victoria is paramount. We will not tolerate any behaviour which compromises that position, or our people, and will always support our culture of speaking up.”CA also stated that they are “committed to providing a safe environment for all players and employees and the welfare of those subjected to mistreatment is paramount.”

Australia put one foot in the semi-finals with a dominant 60-run victory over neighbours New Zealand in Sharjah, and in the process recorded their 13th straight win in T20I World Cups. The result means Australia have two wins from two with a healthy net run-rate of 2.524 – they are also the only unbeaten side in the group. For New Zealand, the margin of defeat has had a hefty impact on their net run-rate, now going below Pakistan’s as they fell to third place.The win was a result of a supreme all-round effort from Australia, and a solid execution of plans. Their top order of Alyssa Healy, Beth Mooney and Ellyse Perry contributed heavily, and while Amelia Kerr – who ended with excellent figures of 4 for 26 – did her best to reel New Zealand back into the game, Australia’s total of 148 for 8 on a sluggish surface always felt like too tall a chase.And so it proved as New Zealand’s batters struggled to get going. Suzie Bates hung around for a scratchy 20 off 27, while Kerr’s 29 off 31 was the only other innings of substance. While Megan Schutt, Sophie Molineux and Annabel Sutherland shared eight wickets among them, it was Schutt’s outstanding spell of 3 for 3 that pinned New Zealand down. Schutt took home the Player-of-the-Match award for her efforts.

Healy takes charge

On a surface with a nice layering of grass, Australia might have suspected they had won a good toss when they elected to bat. After Healy’s 26 off 20, that decision was looking more sound than ever, as Australia struck 43 inside the powerplay.It might not have been so though, had Healy not been convinced by partner Mooney to review an lbw call in the third over. That overturned decision seemed to bring clarity, as the very next delivery from Fran Jonas was smoked over mid-off. Two balls later, another one over extra cover. She’d repeat the trick in the next over as well, before carving one over point in the final over of the powerplay.While Healy fell looking for a fifth loft over the offside, Australia had set the ideal platform for their innings.

Mooney and Perry shift through the gears

Once the fielding restrictions were lifted, Perry in particular struggled to turn over the strike. The pressure that was built eventually told when she struck one straight to long-on, only for Maddy Green to spill the chance. New Zealand unsurprisingly came to the rue that missed opportunity as Perry and Mooney stitched together the match’s highest stand of 45 off 38.Amelia Kerr picked up 4 for 26•ICC via Getty Images

What both batters did well from there on was not get bogged down. While boundaries were hard to come by, they were still eager to use their feet and keep ticking over singles. It meant the momentum set up by Healy’s early salvo was never lost. This was highlighted by Mooney’s 40 off 32, which included just the two boundaries.Once Mooney fell, caught trying – and failing – to clear mid-off, Perry took over as aggressor carting Eden Carson for six over long-off, before pummeling her through square leg. Bookending those strikes was a pair of boundaries off two Kerr overs, as Perry threatened to take the game away from New Zealand.

Kerr keeps New Zealand in it

But just as Australia were looking to truly unleash, Kerr struck in consecutive deliveries in the 14th over to take out Perry and Grace Harris, having already removed Mooney earlier. Kerr grabbed one more before signing off, making it three wickets in a five-ball period for the legspinner.These wickets had the effect of snuffing out Australia’s momentum, though their propensity for picking up singles mixed in with the odd boundary meant they still managed 32 runs off the final five overs. Not as much as they would have liked, but enough to push them to a fairly imposing total.

Australia execute to perfection

Knowing that they had a good total on the board, Australia’s goal was to simply make life as difficult as possible for New Zealand’s batters – and that they did. Schutt set the tone with her impeccable lines and lengths, never allowing the batters to swing their arms, while she was ably supported by her team-mates.This meant that while New Zealand lost just one wicket inside the powerplay, they were only able to muster 29 runs. By the 10th over, it was still one wicket down but the scoreboard had just about ticked over to 54.The final 10 overs then brought about the conclusion they’d been planning for throughout as batter after batter got out trying to hit out. In the end, at no point in the chase we New Zealand ever in the game.

Centurion Ryan Higgins became this summer’s second batter to reach 1,000 runs in the Vitality County Championship as Middlesex batted themselves to an almost certain draw against Yorkshire on day three at Headingley.Unbeaten all-rounder Higgins, who followed Glamorgan batter Colin Ingram’s lead after he achieved the feat on day two, top-scored with 117 off 210 balls in Middlesex’s 441 for five as they replied to Yorkshire’s first-innings 601 for six declared.Higgins posted his fifth hundred of the ongoing Division Two campaign, in his 10th appearance, and was joined in posting a century by opener Sam Robson with 108 off 219 balls.Higgins was slightly more aggressive against an accurate spin-led Yorkshire attack, as reaching his hundred with a six suggests, while Robson’s innings came on the ground where he scored his only Test century for England 10 years ago.Another ex-England player, Dom Bess, claimed four for 168 in 64 overs of off-spin.Robson started day three 65 not out, with Middlesex 141 for one, and he went on to record the 35th first-class century of an impressive career including seven Test appearances in 2014.Having been trapped lbw defending against Bess, before lunch, Robson then watched Higgins build on his good work and see his side to the verge of the 452 follow-on target late in the day.Robson’s England century – 127 – came in the first innings at Headingley against Sri Lanka, a Test the visitors won in June 2014. It was the now 35-year-old’s second of seven home appearances before being discarded.Jonathan Trott acted as a locum opener alongside Sir Alastair Cook for a West Indies tour in early 2015 before Adam Lyth took over for that summer’s home series against New Zealand and then Australia.Ironically, Lyth is playing in this game for Yorkshire and bowled at Robson late on day one.Lyth also played seven home summer Tests before discarded, and his only century came at Headingley.Robson was expertly watchful against the rare bursts of seam but mainly spin in the form of Bess, Lyth and Dan Moriarty, and he worked well off his legs.Having shared 61 for the first wicket with Mark Stoneman either side of tea on day two, he completed a second-wicket 121 with Max Holden this morning.Left-handed Holden made 51 before feathering behind off Bess, leaving Middlesex at 182 for two in the 64th over.Robson was trapped lbw playing forwards at Bess with the score on 207 in the 76th, a key time with the new ball around the corner.Leus du Plooy and Higgins negated that threat, utilised by the spinners, as they added a fourth-wicket 57 either side of lunch, where Middlesex reached at 248 for three.Du Plooy was ousted early in the afternoon for 33, caught at short cover off a low full toss from new ball seamer Ben Coad, who was bowling only his seventh over of the innings – 263 for four in the 93rd.While determined Middlesex will be delighted to achieve their mid-match goal of avoiding defeat, this wasn’t a day they dominated.They weren’t able to break free and achieve a sizeable haul of batting bonus points as Bess and Moriarty have bowled 116 overs between them in the innings.Upon reaching 321 for four after 110 overs, they claimed two batting points to Yorkshire’s one for bowling. In the match overall, Yorkshire have edged that battle five to three.Should this contest finish in a draw, as expected, second-placed Middlesex would be one point clear of Yorkshire in third with three matches remaining in the promotion race.Fifth wicket pair Higgins and wicketkeeper-batter Jack Davies shared 128 either side of tea, the latter adding 61 before edging a low catch to slip off Bess – 391 for five in the 133rd.Excellent Higgins, who swept and reverse swept well, reached 1,000 Championship runs for the season upon getting to 92 and brought up his latest century with a six over long-on against Moriarty’s left-arm spin.He got there off 185 balls amidst an unbroken sixth-wicket stand of 50 with Luke Hollman, 21 not out.

Alice Capsey and Maia Bouchier lifted England to an impressive total which proved more than enough when Charlie Dean ripped into a struggling New Zealand line-up to seal victory in a rain-affected second T20I in Hove.Persistent rain delayed the start by two hours and cut the match to nine overs per side. Capsey’s 28 off 15 balls and Bouchier’s 23 off 15 set England up for a total of 89 for 6, then Dean took 2 for 3 in a single over as New Zealand crumbled to 42 for 5 in 6.4 overs before the rain returned to end the match even more prematurely than expected, the hosts taking a 2-0 lead in the five-match series which moves to Canterbury on Thursday.New Zealand won the toss and opted to bowl first. They made two changes to the side which lost the opening match at Southampton on Saturday by 59 runs, bringing in seamer Hannah Rowe and offspinner Leigh Kasperek for Fran Jonas and Eden Carson. England, meanwhile, brought back Lauren Bell – rested after her five-wicket haul in the third and final ODI – and called up Dani Gibson to replace Freya Kemp and Linsey Smith.

Dry, not dull

Hove’s enviable drainage – and hardworking ground staff – ultimately delivered a playing surface that was sufficiently dry. But, at nine overs per side, the match promised not to be. Although there were no big individual scores, Capsey and Bouchier found, and cleared, the boundary with finesse while Heather Knight struck three fours in her 14-ball cameo of 15 and Sophie Ecclestone hammered a six off the only ball she faced to end the England innings in the best possible way.It took four legitimate deliveries for Bouchier to get off the mark but to do so she despatched a shorter ball from Jess Kerr over backward square leg and into the stands and she followed up with four through midwicket off Rowe’s first delivery. When Danni Wyatt fell for a third-ball duck, Capsey arrived and helped herself to back-to-back fours off Sophie Devine, a lap through fine leg and a glance through third. Bouchier overcame a knock to the grille via an edge onto her own glove attempting a reverse off Lea Tahuhu to find the boundary twice more but her attempt at a third in a row went awry when she holed out to Maddy Green at long-on.Georgia Plimmer put down a straightforward chance off Jess Kerr running in from deep square leg when Nat Sciver-Brunt was on 3 and Sciver-Brunt looked to capitalise when she swung Tahuhu into the grounds of the flats which sit beyond the fence at deep midwicket. She survived a review for caught behind next ball but fell moments later as Tahuhu pegged back middle stump. Capsey, who had smashed a six off Jess Kerr over wide mid-off, welcomed Kasperek back to T20Is for the first time in a year by launching her third ball over midwicket and into a hospitality tent, but fell next ball, caught by Jess Kerr at short third.Amelia Kerr grabbed two wickets in three balls with a return catch to remove Knight and tempting Gibson down the pitch and beating the bat as Izzy Gaze whipped off the bails. That left Ecclestone one ball to face and she muscled it into the stands over long-on.

Dean defeats damp squib

Devine promised the most in terms of fireworks and walked out to open with Suzie Bates, but she fell for just 9 spooning Lauren Bell tamely to Capsey at mid-on. Then Amelia Kerr picked out Capsey at midwicket off Sciver-Brunt and England had two prize wickets inside the three-over powerplay. Sciver-Brunt fell to the ground, rolled over and stayed there, waiting for it to swallow her up after she parried a Brooke Halliday slog over the rope for six. But Dean managed to remove Halliday in the next over, pinned lbw for 14 and New Zealand were 28 for 3 needing 62 off 29 balls.Sarah Glenn held an excellent catch diving forward from short third to remove New Zealand’s remaining big hope, Bates for just 4, giving Dean her second wicket in the space of five balls and, after Jess Kerr picked out Knight at extra cover to give Ecclestone her first, the rain returned. The players left the field with 2.2 overs remaining and the rain set in, with handshakes exchanged a short time later, the weather deciding the result in the end on the DLS method and Dean walking away with impressive figures of 1-0-3-2.