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Butt gets 2 years 6 months in jail, Asif gets 1 year, Amir six months

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A London court has handed out jail terms to the three players and their agent found guilty in the spot-fixing case, drawing the curtains on one of cricket’s most sordid and shameful sagas. Salman Butt, the former Pakistan captain, has been sentenced to two years and six months; Mohammad Asif has got a one-year jail sentence and his fellow fast bowler Mohammad Amir six months. Mazhar Majeed, the players’ agent, has been sentenced to two years and eight months.They will serve half the time in custody and then be released on licence, with conditions which, if broken, would see them back in detention for the remainder of their term.The four men had been charged with conspiracy to accept corrupt payments, and conspiracy to cheat in regard to the Lord’s Test against England in August 2010, when the three pre-determined no-balls were bowled – two by Amir and one by Asif, orchestrated by Butt and arranged by Majeed. While Amir and Majeed had pleaded guilty before the trial began, Butt and Asif denied the charges and were found guilty by a jury on Tuesday.The sentences were handed down in Southwark Crown Court on Thursday morning – the 22nd day of the trial – by Justice Cooke, who prefaced the quantum of punishment with some stinging remarks on the four convicted men and a sobering reminder on the legacy of their actions on the sport itself. He also made clear to Majeed and Amir that their sentences had been reduced – from four years and nine months, respectively – because they had pleaded guilty, and told all the players that the bans imposed by the ICC had also had a mitigating effect.The incarceration began immediately, with the players – who had all come to court with bags – driven away in prison vans after leaving a courtroom packed beyond capacity. Amir will not be sent to jail but to a young offenders’ detention centre.In the aftermath of the sentencing process, while TV crews hovered outside the courthouse, the one main area of debate was what would happen with regards to appeals. Butt’s solicitor Paul Harris confirmed on the entrance steps of the courthouse that his team would be lodging an appeal “in the next 24 hours”.Amir’s team met with the judge behind closed doors immediately, and grounds for appeal were rejected then, which is apparently normal practice as the sentencing judge is hardly going to admit his punishment was incorrect minutes after meting it out. They are, though, awaiting further clearance, probably in the next 24 hours, which will allow them to lodge an appeal.Majeed and Asif’s legal representatives are yet to announce appeal plans though these are expected soon. There is no suggestion that any of the quartet are seeking bail, while awaiting appeals.The PCB called it a “sad day” for Pakistan cricket. “Instead of having pride in playing for their country, these players chose to disappoint their supporters, damage the image of their country and bring the noble game of cricket into disrepute. There is little sympathy in Pakistan for the sorry pass they have come to.”In Lahore, the families of the convicted players were stunned by the sentences. Amir’s father said the Pakistan government should have helped his son. His brother Saleem said: “He is a kid, he can’t understand things. These six months are a lot for a boy who is immature.”Butt’s father Zulfiqar was more aggressive, saying his son was innocent. “Our own friends conspired against us,” he said. “You can check our bank balance, we haven’t even been able to build our own house.”The judge began the day’s proceedings proceedings with his summation of the case of each of the four found guilty, reading out their sentences one at a time, and his initial words suggested jail terms for all four guilty.”Now, when people look back at a surprising event in a game or a surprising result or ever in the future there are surprising results, followers of the game who have paid to watch cricket or who have watched cricket on TV will wonder whether there has been a fix or what they have watched was natural.”Cooke had harsh words for Butt, whom he called “the orchestrator of these matters…you had to be to make sure these two bowlers were bowling at the time of the fix.” Butt’s leadership status, he said, made him more culpable than his bowlers.He specifically mentioned Butt’s role in involving Amir in the corruption. “An 18 year old from a poverty stricken village background, very different to your own privileged one, who, whilst a very talented bowler, would be inclined to do what his senior players and particularly his captain told him, especially when told there was money in it for him and this was part of the common culture. For an impressionable youngster, not long in the team to stand out against the blandishments of his captain would have been hard.”To Asif he said: “Whilst no money was found in your possession, it’s clear that you conspired to bowl a no-ball. There’s no evidence on your part of prior fixing but it’s hard to see that this could have been an isolated incident.”For Amir there was praise for accepting his guilt and a re-assertion of Butt’s influence on Amir but a refusal to accept the basis of his plea, that his only involvement in spot fixing was at Lord’s on August 26 and 27 and that he only became involved as a result of pressure and threats to his career.In this regard he referred to evidence, in the shape of texts and telephone calls with a Pakistani number, of Amir’s involvement in discussions about fixing brackets at The Oval during the period of the indictment, though there was no evidence that such fixing actually occurred. That discussion, Justice Cooke noted, did not relate to Majeed.

Abhinav, Saha shine in India Red win

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Scorecard and ball-by-ball detailsFile photo: Abhinav Mukund is keen to show he can be effective in the limited-overs forms of the game•Getty Images

A well-paced century from Abhinav Mukund helped India Red successfully chase India Blue’s 274 in the first match of the NKP Salve Challenger Trophy at Jamtha. Abhinav showed a great amount of patience and nerve in his innings, and helped India Red recover from a precarious 45 for 3. Giving him support was Wriddhiman Saha, who scored 65 not out.The two showed composure in their 147-run partnership, relying on ones and twos to keep the scoreboard ticking rather than looking for the big shots. Abhinav, who is keen to show he can play the limited-overs forms of the game too, hit just 10 fours in his 127, while Saha had just three boundaries, all through sweeps, in his innings. Saha worked the spinners around well, while Abhinav hit some crisp strokes off the seamers late in his innings.India Red were in trouble when the two came together. They had lost their opening pair of Shikhar Dhawan and Gautam Gambhir in the first two overs, and danger-man Yusuf Pathan skied one to mid-on in the eighth. Yusuf had hit four boundaries, ensuring India Red kept pace with the required run-rate, but they were in further trouble when Ashok Menaria was dismissed in bizarre circumstances in the 20th over. Menaria inside-edged a sweep off Pragyan Ojha, the ball hit the inside flap of his back pad and Dinesh Karthik reacted sharply to hold the catch.Abhinav and Saha had to be watchful early, and the required run-rate rose to above 6 an over by the 32nd over. The two played risk-free cricket, yet managed to keep the asking-rate in check, and India Red got home with 2.3 overs to spare in the end. India Blue were not helped by some mediocre bowling. Irfan Pathan and Pradeep Sangwan could not kick on from the early wickets they took, and went at more than six an over, as did Pragyan Ojha. The relatively unknown seamer Yajuvendra Krishanatry looked insipid and was only given four overs, with S Badrinath bowling himself and M Vijay instead.Abhinav and Saha’s partnership made up for what had been a pretty sloppy effort from India Red in the field. Their left-arm seamers RP Singh and Jaydev Unadkat bowled far too wide of off stump from around the wicket and the India Blue batsmen carved them for boundaries through the off side. Paul Valthaty was the first to take advantage of the wayward line, hitting seven boundaries in his 36, before he was run out in a mix-up with Vijay. Badrinath’s half-century was a more measured knock, but India Blue continued attacking through Manish Pandey. After hitting five fours and a six, Pandey eventually hit one down long-on’s throat.Thereafter, India Red’s spinners started to choke the runs. Bhargav Bhatt, who had dismissed Pandey, deceived Badrinath in the flight and had him stumped. At 219 for 6 in the 45th over, India Blue needed a late surge, and it came from 19-year-old Mandeep Singh. Mandeep hit five fours and two sixes, including a perfectly-timed lofted extra-cover drive off Unadkat, to take India Blue to a competitive total. It looked like it would be enough until Abhinav and Saha’s partnership.

Essex failed to perform – Grayson

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Paul Grayson, the Essex coach, has admitted the 2011 season fell well below the club’s expectations and he has already started planning for next summer with the signing of Derbyshire allrounder Greg Smith.The county finished seventh in Division Two of the County Championship and failed to qualify for the knockout stages of both the Clydesdale Bank 40 and Friends Life t20. The team suffered having failed to fill the hole left by Danish Kaneria, the Pakistan legspinner, and early-season attempts to sign Peter Siddle were unsuccessful. Grayson is now looking ahead and picked out the performances of a number of youngsters – such as legspinner Tom Craddock and left-arm quick Reece Topley – as a sign of a brighter future.”At the start of 2011, myself and the cricket Committee set the objectives of gaining promotion to Division One and securing a one-day trophy,” Grayson said. “Defeats in the opening two Championship games have cost us dearly and from then on we were always playing catch-up.”There is no denying the fact that a number of players have been inconsistent this season,” he added. “However, we have a very talented and determined squad with a number of exciting players coming through the ranks. This season has seen the arrival of the likes of Reece Topley, Tymal Mills, Adam Wheater and Tom Craddock. We hope we can further progress the young blood we have at the Club and develop the winning combination that was missing in 2011.”Over the winter months the squad will take a much needed break and will prepare for what we hope will be a successful 2012 season across all formats of the game. We have to aim for promotion, it’s where we need and want to be and despite comments elsewhere, the County Championship remains our number one priority.”Smith, meanwhile, will bring some experience to the middle order plus the ability to bowl both seam-up and offspin. “Greg is a cricketer that I admire. He is a very talented all-rounder and has a great character for the dressing room which I feel will benefit us,” Grayson said. “He is a very good cricketer who will fit in well with the team and I look forward to working with him at Essex.”

Hughes hundred hurts Sri Lanka's hopes

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Scorecard and ball-by-ball detailsPhillip Hughes scored his first Test century since March 2009•AFP

Smart stats

  • Phillip Hughes’ century is his first since his twin centuries in the second Test against South Africa in Durban in 2009. In between, he made only one half-century in ten Tests.

  • Hughes also achieved the feat of scoring a century and a duck in the same match. Michael Hussey was the previous Australia player to do so against England at The Oval in 2009.

  • Angelo Mathews’ 105 is his first century in Tests and his third fifty-plus knock of the series. He has so far scored 274 runs in this series at an average of 91.33.

  • Mathews’ century is the eighth by a Sri Lanka batsman in home Tests against Australia. Five of them have been scored at the SSC.

  • In Tests since 1990, there have been 76 centuries scored at the SSC in 33 Tests. Only Lord’s has witnessed more centuries (84 in 39 matches).

  • Sri Lanka’s lead of 157 at the end of their first innings is the third-highest for them in Tests against Australia.

  • This is the third occasion when there have been three fifty-plus partnerships for the first three wickets for Australia in Tests against Sri Lanka. The previous two occasions were in Hobart in 2007 and Galle in 2004.

Phillip Hughes scored his first Test century in two-and- a-half years to give Australia every chance of playing out a series-winning draw at the SSC. But at the end of a day that began with a Sri Lankan crawl as Angelo Mathews ate up valuable time in reaching his maiden Test hundred, Rangana Herath had troubled Australia’s top order enough to give Sri Lanka some hope of victory.Sri Lanka must win the match to level the series, and their fate hinges on whether they can run through Australia’s middle order early on the final day. At stumps on the fourth afternoon, Australia were 52 runs in front, with seven wickets in hand, and they had a well-set Hughes still at the crease on 122 alongside the captain Michael Clarke on 8.If time does beat Sri Lanka, they will regret their slow march on the fourth morning, when they added 45 runs to their overnight total but took more than an hour and a half to do so. By tea, Australia had all but knocked off the 157-run first-innings deficit and they were in no hurry during the final session, happy to bat as much time out of the match as possible.Not that Hughes had been slow. He brought up his century from his 141st delivery with a push through the off side for two, and his celebration was noticeably muted: there was a small fist pump and raise of the bat but none of the helmet-kissing that has marked Australian milestones in recent years. He knew that the selectors had shown great faith in him by dropping Simon Katich.Hughes hadn’t passed fifty in any of his past ten Test innings, and not since his twin hundreds in Durban in March 2009 had he reached triple figures for his country. He took 22 balls to get through the nineties, which included a nervous moment on 99 when he survived an lbw review after getting in a tangle trying to dab behind gully; the ball had hit the flap of his pad before bat, but outside the line.Earlier, Hughes had been in fine form, and his driving through cover whenever the seamers overpitched was especially strong. He also cleared the midwicket boundary with a slog off Herath and brought up his fifty with another slog-sweep, this time off Tillakaratne Dilshan, from his 67th delivery. Importantly, he had support all the way.His partnerships with Shane Watson, Shaun Marsh and Ricky Ponting were all worth sixty-something. Herath worked hard to remove all three batsmen, the dismissal of Ponting for 28 late in the day a key blow when the ball turned sharply and kissed the batsman’s gloves on the way through to Mahela Jayawardene at slip.Herath had earned the wicket of Watson (21) with a delivery that went straight on, and despite a huge stride forward, Watson was lbw on review after being given not out by the on-field umpire. That review worked for Sri Lanka; another one would have worked against them, if only Marsh had thought to request one when he was out for 18.It was a strange dismissal, as Marsh was given out caught at bat-pad, but replays showed Herath’s delivery had turned so much that it missed the bat and gloves by a significant margin. However, perhaps forgetting the DRS was available or maybe just convinced he had made contact, Marsh failed to ask for the review that would have saved him.But that was hardly the most baffling part of the day’s play. The real mystery was why Sri Lanka batted so slowly during the morning, when what they really needed was quick runs to give themselves adequate time to bowl Australia out and then complete a chase if necessary. Instead, the focus seemed to be solely on Mathews making his hundred, no matter how long it took.He did get there, and remained unbeaten on 105 after he lost three of his final four partners while en-route to triple figures. Australia were happy to consume valuable minutes by setting the field back, knowing Mathews would not take singles early in an over to expose the No.11 Suranga Lakmal, and the path to his century was long and drawn out.Eventually, he got there from his 256th delivery with a drive through cover for four off Peter Siddle, and it was a relief for a man who had twice been out in the nineties. The final wicket fell when Lakmal was bowled by Mitchell Johnson for 13, after Siddle picked up the early breakthroughs.Siddle started the day by bowling Shaminda Eranga for 12 with a fullish ball that caught the inside edge and cannoned on to the leg stump, and he followed up by trapping Herath lbw for 3. Herath had the decision reviewed but to no avail, and a few overs later Chanaka Welegedara was run out in a major mix-up with Mathews.Welegedara pushed to mid-on and took off for a single but ended up at the bowler’s end alongside his partner Mathews, and the ball was relayed to Brad Haddin who whipped the bails off at the other end. It typified a morning when Sri Lanka were simply not on the ball.But by the end of the day, Herath’s strikes had at least given them some chance of victory. If they start the fifth morning as they did the fourth, that hope will quickly disappear.

Test toddlers face off once more

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Tatenda Taibu greeted Mohammed Ashraful with a brotherly hug, the kind of embrace that two weary soldiers would share. They nodded sagely as they separated, two stalwarts who have been down this road before. As veterans of their respective national teams, friends from when Taibu spent a season playing club cricket in Dhaka and opponents on more occasions than either can remember, it was fitting to be re-entering Test cricket together.While England and India are tussling at the top of the Test table, Zimbabwe and Bangladesh are in a scrap at the bottom. Both have not played a Test in over a year, with Bangladesh’s hiatus lasting 14 months because of scheduling and Zimbabwe’s almost six years after a removing themselves from the longest form of the game when their house fell apart. On Thursday, that interval finally ends.For Bangladesh, it’s a chance to show that they have matured as a cricketing nation and can adjust to conditions, instead of succumbing to them. For Zimbabwe, it’s the start of a new era, with one eye firmly on the future of their status as a Full Member of the ICC. To be embarking on the journey together is special, the two toddlers of the Test arena, each stacking their building blocks to see whose is higher, each confident theirs will be the tower that stands, even if it has to lean over a tad.”We’ll win it,” a cheeky Tamim Iqbal said, dismissing all thoughts the Bangladesh may need some time to get back into the groove of playing Test cricket. “If you’re eating with the left hand, you won’t forget to eat with the right hand. It’s exactly the same – you need to prepare well, set your mindset and just play.” Zimbabwe’s Hamilton Masakadza, who was sitting next to Tamim during their media session had a ready response. “We’ll come out guns firing too and look for the win,” he said.Zimbabwe are hoping to capitalise on home advantage. They are reportedly preparing a pitch that will have some life for the quicker bowlers, so that they terrorise the Bangladesh batsmen with short balls and counteract the threat of left-arm spin. Tamim doesn’t care about any of that. “We’ve toured South Africa, with one of the quickest wickets in the world. We faced Dale Steyn who is one the quickest bowlers in the world,” he said. “I don’t think there is any Dale Steyn in this team and I don’t think there is any Cape Town wicket so I don’t think we will have a problem.”A teasing response from Masakazda this time. “You speak so well now,” he said to Tamim, who only laughed, letting the Zimbabwean continue. “Anyway, Tamim is one of the Bangladesh players who does play the short ball well. Cricket is evolving and it’s a thing of the past to say one team doesn’t do this, or does do this so I don’t think that will play too much of a role,” Masakadza said.Part of cricket’s evolution has been the debate on whether it should stay an old boys’ club that only allows nine or ten big boys to play at the highest level or expand and give smaller teams time to develop. The ICC need look no further than Harare Sports Club over the next week to know the answer to that question.There’s every chance that some of the cricket played here will not be of the highest quality, that if it goes the five-day distance, the bowlers will be toiling too hard and the batsmen playing defensively, that if there is a result, it could be in a three-day shootout and this match will not go down as one of cricket’s most memorable because its scorecard.There is an even greater chance that the 22 men in white who step onto the field will be hoping with all their hearts to start something special, whether its Bangladesh trying to better their record away from home or Zimbabwe trying to show that the years of hard work have paid off, and that once the final ball is bowled they will walk off as friends and comrades who are in this journey together.

Goodwin hit with one-match ban

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Sussex batsman Murray Goodwin has been handed a one-match ban by an England and Wales Cricket Board disciplinary hearing despite already being reprimanded through his county’s internal disciplinary process. Goodwin’s charge was in relation to his conduct in three matches between April and July, where he was alleged to have shown dissent at umpiring decisions.Goodwin, 38, pleaded guilty to a breach of the ECB’s codes on conduct and behaviour and will now miss Sussex’s Friends Life t20 clash against Kent at Canterbury. In addition, he was ordered to pay £500 towards the costs of the hearing.He had initially been warned for his behaviour during the game against Essex at Hove last month and then reprimanded for hitting the ball to the boundary in frustration after being given out lbw in the Championship clash with Warwickshire at Arundel last week. Sussex warned Goodwin about his future conduct and also issued a fine, although this was suspended for two years as recognition of his service to the county and, until this season, his unblemished personal record.”I regret my actions on both occasions and accept that there can be no circumstances where such a reaction is acceptable,” Goodwin said, after being reproached by his club. “I have apologised to the umpires concerned, and the club, and accept the ruling handed down by the club. As players, we recognise our responsibility as role models for players at all levels and of all ages.”The matter was subsequently taken up by an ECB Cricket Discipline Commission Panel comprising Mike Smith, David Smith and Alan Moss, resulting in Goodwin’s ban. Sussex have made clear their unhappiness with this development, but admitted that it sent a strong message about the need to take on-field behaviour seriously.”As a club, we are disappointed by the outcome as we felt – in our own internal disciplinary process – that Murray’s previously good personal record, his apology to all umpires concerned, and his clear feeling of contrition merited a measure of leniency,” Sussex chief executive Dave Brooks said.”However, this ruling sends out a clear message to all the Counties and professional cricketers that such behaviour will be dealt with severely, and in a manner over and above the fixed penalty system. The consistent implementation of this policy should have the desired effect of arresting a slide in on field discipline, which Sussex CCC supports.”Sussex are still in the running for a place in the quarter-finals of the Friends Life t20 competition, and Goodwin’s enforced absence comes at a time when Rana Naved, Luke Wright, Wayne Parnell, Luke Wells and Kirk Wernars are also missing through injury.

Strauss to play for Somerset against India

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Andrew Strauss will play for Somerset against the Indian tourists next month in preparation for England’s Test series after the ECB came to an agreement to ensure the captain has adequate opportunity to find form.With Strauss not part of England’s one-day plans any more he will return to county duty with Middlesex. However, they have just one Championship match, against Gloucestershire at Uxbridge, in the next three weeks and Strauss will play that along with one CB40 match. It was felt that only playing Middlesex’s fixtures would have left him short of time in the middle before a four-Test series.Strauss has been short of form during the Sri Lanka series with 26 runs in four innings and fell three times to Chanaka Welegedara, the left-arm seamer, to begin debates about a potential weakness, especially as India will have Zaheer Khan in their attack. He stressed the added value of time in the middle over simple net practice in his search for form.”Any time I get the opportunity to play against the touring side prior to the series starting I take because it gives me an opportunity to see their bowlers and more than anything it’s about getting some cricket,” said Strauss. “I’ll be doing a lot of work in the nets over the next few weeks but you can’t replicate what happens in a match in the nets. This gives me another opportunity to hopefully have another innings before the npower Test series starts.””We were very sensitive to Somerset’s feelings on this and if at any stage we felt they weren’t comfortable with the idea then it would have been a non-starter,” he added. “But they were very keen and we’re very grateful for them to give me the opportunity to play some cricket before the first npowerTest match and hopefully I can spend a bit of time with their young cricketers at the same time.”Andy Flower, the England team director, was delighted with the arrangement with Somerset. “It’s a good indication of how the counties can work together,” he told . “We knew it was a challenge about how much cricket he will get before the Test series. We were looking for opportunities for him to play. We approached Somerset and they’ve been wholly positive.””We are very grateful to Somerset’s Director of Cricket Brian Rose and Middlesex’s Managing Director of Cricket, Angus Fraser, for their co-operation in this matter and believe it will provide Andrew with valuable preparation in the longer form of the game ahead of the forthcoming npower Test series against India,” added ECB Managing Director Hugh Morris.The match against the Indians, which is their only warm-up game before the first Test at Lord’s, takes place from July 15-17 at Taunton and could mean a reuniting of Strauss with his former England opening partner Marcus Trescothick.

Robson ton denies Essex control

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ScorecardOpener Sam Robson celebrated his first County Championship outing of the season by batting throughout the day to score 136 as Middlesex reached 316 for 6 in their duel against Essex at Chelmsford.The 21-year-old right-hander was brought into the side in the absence of Andrew Strauss, who will be away on England duty on Thursday, and the out-of-form Scott Newman. And he showed his appreciation by once again underlining his liking for the Essex attack, his only other Championship century coming when the sides met at Lord’s two years ago.Robson has so far punctuated his innings with 14 boundaries and kept a cool head when Graham Napier was threatening to destroy the innings. Fresh from his record-breaking 16 sixes in the last match against Surrey, the Essex seamer showed he could also be a destructive force with the ball when he returned for a second spell with Middlesex situated on 82 for one.In the space of 13 deliveries he removed Dan Housego, Dawid Malan and Neil Dexter without conceding a run. But then Robson, who had earlier shared in a half-century opening stand with Chris Rogers – who was to become a victim of Ravi Bopara when he chopped on – was to find a reliable partner in Jamie Dalrymple.They won back the initiative with a partnership of 103 in 29 overs, which finally came to an end when Napier returned for another spell. Napier found enough bounce and hostility to have Dalrymple caught in the slips by Matt Walker to end an entertaining contribution of 52 which contained seven fours and a six and arrived from 81 deliveries.But any hopes Essex might have entertained of making further quick inroads into the innings were thwarted by another century partnership, this time John Simpson providing Robson with support. The pair rarely suffered a moment of anxiety while putting on 122 in 36 overs and it needed the arrival of the second new ball to separate them.Again it was the impressive Napier who made the breakthrough when he breached the defences of Simpson after he had made 65, with eight boundaries. Napier finished the day with the magnificent figures of 5 for 43 from 20 overs, in complete contrast to 17-year-old Reece Topley who finished wicketless after spending the early part of the morning sitting his Business Studies examination at Royal Hospital School in Holbrook, Suffolk.The exam lasted for two hours before he was picked up by his father at 10am and arrived at the ground only minutes before taking the new ball. He has so far sent down 16 overs while conceding 80 runs – and is no doubt feeling that his exam was far easier than his attempts to remove Middlesex batsmen.

Middlebrook and Brooks continue dominance

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Scorecard
James Middlebrook hit 109 – his highest score for Northamptonshire – as the visitors established an iron grip on the County Championship Division Two clash with Gloucestershire at Bristol. Middlebrook and Niall O’Brien, who extended his overnight score of 123 to 166, took their seventh-wicket stand to 187 before being parted, and helped their team to a massive first-innings score of 557 for 9 declared.By the close of the second day, Gloucestershire had replied with 172 for 7, having been 31 for 5 at one stage after Jack Brooks (4 for 30) took three wickets in the space of seven balls. Chris Taylor (54) and Will Gidman (72 not out) led a spirited recovery with a stand of 115 but the hosts trailed by 385 runs with just three wickets remaining.Northamptonshire began the day on 381 for 6, having been in trouble themselves at 125 for 5, and were soon piling on the agony for a largely-inexperienced home attack. From his overnight score of 24, Middlebrook moved confidently to a half-century off 88 balls, with eight fours.O’Brien was dropped on 147 by David Payne at long-off as he skied a deliveryfrom Kane Williamson, but otherwise the pair made untroubled progress. O’Brien finally perished shortly before lunch, 10 short of his career-best score, top-edging a pull shot off 16-year-old seamer Craig Miles and being caught at fine leg by Jon Lewis. He had batted for more than five hours, facing 206 balls and hitting 20 fours and a six.Middlebrook went on to reach three figures off 184 balls, with 12 fours, finding more solid support from David Lucas, who finished on 34 not out. The centurion fell to a catch at mid-off, driving at the off-spin of Taylor and Lee Daggett’s second-ball duck brought the declaration.Gloucestershire’s batting problems began when Ian Cockbain was bowledshouldering arms to Lucas with the score on 15. Without addition and in the sameover, Williamson fell for a duck, caught in the slips by David Sales.Brooks then accounted for Richard Coughtrie, Alex Gidman and Jon Batty in rapidsuccession as the home side’s top order was blown away. But Taylor and Will Gidman were in no mood to surrender meekly. They took the score to 61 for 5 at tea and then counter-attacked with relish as the ball went soft.Taylor was first to his fifty off 78 balls, with eight fours, and Gidman’s statistics were similar when he got to his half-century off 80 deliveries, also with eight boundaries.It was 146 for 6 when Taylor was caught behind cutting with no foot movementand Brooks struck again to remove Ian Saxelby, leaving Gidman defiant, but withonly the tail to bat in the morning.

Willoughby and Hussain spark Somerset revival

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ScorecardJimmy Adams led a strong start for Hampshire•PA Photos

Charl Willoughby and Gemaal Hussain each took four wickets for Somerset as Hampshire surrendered a position of power on the first day of their County Championship Division One clash at the Rose Bowl.Liam Dawson made 91 and the consistent Jimmy Adams scored 74 as Hampshire reached an impressive 199 for 2 without major alarms. Then the ball started to swing and the home side lost their last eight wickets for the addition of just 86. Hampshire were eventually all out for 285 in the 85th over and struggling Somerset confirmed their re-emergence by reaching 40 without loss from nine overs at the close.All this was far removed from the first session which was dominated by Hampshire after their captain Dominic Cork had won the toss in bright sunshine. Adams and Dawson put on 136 for the first wicket before Adams was caught behind off Hussain, the first of five catches for Craig Kieswetter.Johann Myburgh was the wicketkeeper’s second victim, diving in front of first slip at 154 and the rest became a bit of a procession as batting suddenly became a difficult proposition in the breeze. The back of the Hampshire innings was broken by Willoughby who went through the middle order to produce an outstanding spell of four for three in only 18 balls.Willoughby’s left-arm pace accounted for James Vince, Neil McKenzie and then Nic Pothas to the first ball after lunch, with Sean Ervine following to a catch in the covers. Hampshire at that stage had lost four wickets for nine runs.All the while Dawson, in an emergency batting position as opener due to Hampshire’s injury problems, remained steadfast until at 231 he attempted to pull Steve Kirby and got a thin edge to Kieswetter. Dawson’s 91 came off 207 balls and included eight fours and in the context of the day’s play, it was an invaluable contribution.Friedel De Wet (8) went at 261, another victim for Kirby and only some late resistance from Cork made the Hampshire total respectable. Belligerent Cork (44) struck Hussain for five successive fours before the bowler had his revenge in his next over when the former England all-rounder lofted a catch to the cover boundary where Peter Trego held the catch.At the fall of the last wicket, Danny Briggs to Hussain, Hampshire’s slide was complete. Willoughby finished with figures of 4 for 40 and Hussain took 4 for 83.The Somerset openers soon improved on the work of the bowlers. Marcus Trescothick and Arul Suppiah rattled up 40 with six boundaries between them as Somerset ended the first day 245 behind.