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Essex’s Championship-winning captain Ryan ten Doeschate has signed a one-year extension with the club, putting an end to speculation that he would follow Ravi Bopara out of Chelmsford.Ten Doeschate told ESPNcricinfo he would “take stock” before committing to a new contract at the club after leading them to a second Championship title in three years, saying he was “deeply aware there’s a time to move on.”But after his team-mate of 16 years Bopara left the club to join Sussex on Wednesday, ten Doeschate confirmed that he would spend the 2020 season at Essex.Ten Doeschate said: “I’m really pleased to extend my contract at the club and my affinity for Essex and the players just grows stronger and stronger.”We had an amazing season in 2019, but we’re constantly striving to improve and we want to build on our success.”I’m excited about the challenges and battles we’ll face in 2020, and I’m looking forward to giving my all in what will hopefully another successful year.”Ten Doeschate captained the club across formats from 2016 to 2018, but relinquished the T20 captaincy to Simon Harmer this year. He has represented the club 477 times in all formats, scoring 27 hundreds and taking more than 300 wickets in the process.He is currently in the UAE, where he will hope to play a key role in leading Netherlands through the T20 World Cup qualifier.Anthony McGrath, Essex’s head coach, said: “Ryan is a huge player for us, both on the field and in the dressing room, so we are all delighted that he will be staying for at least another season.”He’s a natural leader and has led this side to some fantastic achievements over recent years, and hopefully with any luck, there will be more to come.”

Administrators and selectors detest senior players who attempt topick and choose their matches and tours and many careers have come to amessy end as a result of them attempting to do so. However, if it is the same selectors and administrators who make that decision, then all is well, it would appear.So while Shaun Pollock may have been surprised and even upset by hisomission from South Africa’s first Test starting line-up, 24 hours ofquiet reflection have probably helped him realise that he will no longerbe required to flog his 34-year-old body on flat, unforgiving trackslike this one in Karachi. He is being saved for the juicy pitches onwhich his now modest pace can still be effective.While South African captain Graeme Smith and coach Mickey Arthur have bothbeen careful to speak with the respect that Pollock deserves, neither was mincing his words, either.”He certainly isn’t being rested. It is a tactical decision that wehave taken and Shaun has been incredibly mature in responding to what wehave asked him to do,” Smith said on the eve of the first Test. “It is vital that we find time to blood one or two youngsters. We really don’t want to find ourselves reaching the point where Shaun retires and we haven’t given a couple of people the chance to playinternational cricket.”We have a couple of young and very exciting fast bowlers comingthrough and a two-Test series seems to be the perfect chance to exposethem to unfamiliar conditions while Shaun, with all his experience, isstill on hand to guide them and advice them from the sidelines.”Of course, Pollock may yet play. Having endured the unfamiliarexperience of being an international 12th man just once – for the World XI against Australia a couple of years ago – he might avoid the role again if Morne Morkel fails to recover from anankle injury.”He certainly isn’t out of the running for the first Test now thatMorne is injured and he most certainly will be considered for the secondTest,” Smith said. “When we get back to South Africa he comes right back intocontention. We have a good nucleus of bowlers now and selection is aboutchoosing who might be best suited for the conditions as well as about who is fitand in-form.”Arthur felt that the South Africans should be excited rather thandisappointed that Pollock was no longer regarded as a must for everygame.”I felt it was slightly misreported although I can understand whythe emphasis was on Shaun’s omission,” Arthur said. “We have lacked a bit of variety inthe past and that’s what we’re looking to achieve now. Makhaya [Ntini] bowls well to left-handers, Morne bowls a good line and gets steep bounce, Dale Steyn bowls a fuller length with genuine pace and swings it away, Andre Nel is all thunder and in-your-face and then we have Jacques Kallis to complete the pace attack while Paul Harris isdeveloping nicely as a spinner.”So where does that leave Pollock? “He is very much in the mix but we are trying to operate a horses-for-courses policy now,” Arthur said. “There are some pitches and overhead conditions in which he’ll still probably be our first choice. But in conditions that favour the batsmen, we can probably do without the second allrounder and play an extra strike bowler to try and take the 20 wickets needed to win.”

Close of play
Scorecard and ball-by-ball details
How they were out
Uttar Pradesh ended the third day with a massive 416-run lead after Rizwan Shamshad paced his innings thoughtfully – playing the percentages when the bowlers were disciplined and exploding in the third session when he could manage some leeway. But despite the advantage UP currently enjoy the result is far from a foregone conclusion.When UP started batting today, the plan would have been simple. Put runs on the board at a fast clip, set up a target and push for a declaration in the last session. The plan was well under way in the pre-lunch session when Suresh Raina bolted off with a feisty fifty – 147 runs were rattled off in 35 overs – but hit a speed-breaker in the second session when they were pegged back by some niggardly bowling. But, post-tea, UP raced off again, thanks to the Shamshad show, to a position of strength from where they can apply pressure on the visitors.Never hurried into his shots, Shamshad, playing in his 105th first-class game, imposed himself in the last session in a serene manner, cutting and pulling Sarfraz Ahmed who didn’t hit the right areas. With one eye on the declaration, he dismantled Sarfraz before proceeding to tear apart the medium pace of Tahir Mughal. A fierce cut and a caressed cover-drive – he never looked ungainly even when going for the broke – was followed by a spanking pull as the runs leaked from both ends. Earlier, in the second session, when his partner Ravikant Shukla was strangled by the bowling, Shamshad had chosen to jog at an easy pace. Of course, there was a pull here, a lofted drive there, but for the main he chose to play quietly. Maybe, the plan was to run the bowlers to ground, preserve wickets and go for it in the last session. Jyoti Yadav was the ideal partner, rotating the strike with singles and slipping in a few biffed-hits to the fence. Shamshad fell, 12 runs short of what would have been his 20th first-class ton, to a very good tumbling catch by the substitute fielder Satvinder Singh, the local under-22 cricketer who had to take the field as Sialkot camp was hit by injuries, at square-leg when he top-edged a pull.The positive intent that Shamshad revealed in the last session was evident through the first session when UP came out attacking. Even, and especially, when a wicket fell, they counter-attacked. Rohit Srivastava took charge when Shiva Shukla fell after an innings that promised many more than what he ended up with, and when Srivastava departed, Raina imposed himself. Sadly, for a match named after Mohammad Nissar, the express Indian bowler of yore, Mohammad Asif, easily the best fast bowler on view, couldn’t showcase his bowling prowess due to a shoulder niggle. That not only would have disappointed the cricket romantics but also hurt Sialkot.Raina, who reached his 15th first-class half-century in the 42nd over of the innings, took time to settle down before the Srivastava dismissal sparked off the aggressive instinct in him. He waltzed down the track to the left-arm spinner Abdur Rehman and swung him over wide mid-on for two consecutive fours. But Rehman had the last laugh, dismissing Raina, at the stroke of lunch, by holding back the length when the batsman ran down the wicket and the ball spun to beat an intended flick shot.Shukla looked to be in a hurry right from the start. After a few airy wafts – he edged one past the slips in the first over of the day – he began to middle his shots. The straight drives and cover-drives were unfurled, and, just when it seemed he had the measure of the bowlers, Mughal produced a peach of a delivery to send him packing. The ball landed on a length on the middle and appeared to be heading straight on before veering away at the last minute. Srivastava took over with a vengeance – he dispatched Mughal for four fours in the space of eight deliveries. A fierce cut past point, just a ball after the Shukla dismissal, set him rolling and, in a blink, three pull shots were unleashed. However, he fell, going for yet another pull.After the aggression in the morning Sialkot attempted to come back in the game with a disciplined bowling performance in the afternoon. Although wickets didn’t fall in a heap, the run-rate slowed down. Sarfraz Ahmed harassed Ravikant Shukla with his probing line in the corridor of uncertainty. Time and again, Ravikant was beaten by the movement, once edging it short of second slip, as he kept playing away from his body. However, luck continued to favour him – he might well be tempted to buy a lottery ticket after the day’s play – as edges fell either short or were, when they carried, put down. Sarfraz dropped a dolly, when Ravikant was on 28, at mid-off in the first over upon resumption while another chance went down in the slips after he had gone past his fifty. To his credit, Ravikant didn’t let all this affect him and reached his half-century before he fatally flirted at a delivery outside the off stump.Going into the final day the match is intriguingly poised. Sialkot have the firepower of Imran Nazir, who dazzled in the first innings, and the experience of Shoaib Malik, who can either force or slow the pace as the situation demands, and would be quietly confident of saving the game and, maybe, even pulling off an unlikely victory. UP seems to be aware of this potential danger as evident by their decision not to declare even after Shamshad fell in the 88th over of the innings. Following Shamsad’s dismissal UP eked out only 35 runs in the 10 overs that were possible.There were two options for the hosts, either dangle the carrot of a possible chase or bat the other side out of the game and hope the task of playing for a draw proves an unbearable burden. Clearly they have chosen the latter. But with the wicket likely to break further on the last day, if UP can prise out some early wickets, they could be in business.

Shiva Shukla c Khalid Mahmood b Tahir Mughal 36 (57 for 1)
Rohit Srivastava c Mahmood b Shehzad Malik 33 ( 95 for 2)
Suresh Raina b Abdur Rehman 55 (165 for 3)
Ravikant Shukla c Majid Jahangir b Tahir Mughal 64 ( 238 for 4)
Rizwan Shamshad c Majid Jahangir b Mansoor Amjad 88 (326 for 5)
P Kumar c Majid Jahangir b Tahir Mughal 1 (336 for 6)
Piyush Chawla c&b Majid Jahangir 8 (361 for 7)

Ricky Ponting“Apart from when we won at Lord’s (first Test) we were never as good as England and they deserve to win the Ashes.”Michael Vaughan“Kevin Pietersen was outstanding, but there have been a load of individual performances throughout the summer. It has been a hell of a lot of hard work but they believed in themselves and they expressed themselves out on the pitch.”Kevin Pietersen“It is fantastic. The boys have been amazing. I’m speechless really, and the last two months have been fantastic. Wearing the earrings its not going to make me cover drive any differently. I showed today that I am not just a glamour boy. Its amazing to have my mum and brother sitting up there. It is just special.”Andrew Strauss“It has been seven weeks of emotional turmoil. I am proud to be part of this team. Everyone has contributed this season. It makes you proud to be representing your country. We have just been on the very edge of our nerves all summer. It was a great privilege to watch Kevin today.”Andrew Flintoff“We witnessed one of the great innings today. His support from Ashley Giles (who made 59) epitomised what this side is about. Everyone in the dressing room plays a part from the captain to the coach. We go out there and play as a unit.”Duncan Fletcher“It has taken a long time but I would date it back three to four years when I spotted some good young players who could play for England. We have to keep on improving if we are to keep winning.”Shane Warne“England were better than us; it is as simple as that. We had a great battle but we were never as good as England throughout the series.”

Cricinfo will be providing internet audio coverage of the India-Australia Test series, which begins in Bangalore on Wednesday October 6. A subscription to Cricinfo Radio for this keenly anticipated series will cost internet users just $7.99. The webcast begins at 04:00 GMT on the morning of the first Test.The match commentary on www.cricinfo.com/radio, which will be unofficial, is produced for Cricinfo by Virtual Studios in India, and features expert commentary and analysis from Raman Bhanot, Sunil Gujral and V. Srivatsa. The product will be available both in Windows Media and Real Player formats."There is no more keenly anticipated Test series in the cricket calendar than India v Australia," said Tom Gleeson, Wisden Cricinfo’s chief executive, "and we’re delighted to bring it to our huge global audience on Cricinfo Radio. We hope both existing customers and new users who haven’t listened before will join us for what is sure to be another classic series between the sides."Click here to sign up for Cricinfo Radio

Richard Johnson was absolutely delighted after hearing the news that he had been selected for the England squad that will take part in the Triangular One Day series later this summer.The Somerset bowler who is currently near the top of the first class bowling averages after capturing 23 wickets at a cost of just over 18 runs each has yet to make his One Day International debut for his country.The twenty eight year old paceman who joined the Cidermen in 2001 from Middlesex has proved himself to be a good signing and topped the Somerset bowling averages last season and the previous year was the leading wicket taker for the county.He said: "Obviously to play for your country is everyone’s ambition and one of the reasons why you play cricket and I am very pleased to be given my chance.""I heard the news on Thursday morning when David Graveney telephoned me at home to tell me. I thought that I might be in with a shout after doing well this season, and I’d had heard rumours but it still came as a bit of a shock when he called," he said.The Triangular One Day series that involves England, South Africa and Zimbabwe starts on June 17th and culminates in a final at Lords on July 12th.Meanwhile earlier in the day chief executive Peter Anderson reflected on Somerset’s exit from this year’s Cheltenham and Gloucester Trophy on Wednesday at the hands of Surrey."After the game the dressing room was a desolate place to be, and the players were pretty despondent. However to try to put the result into perspective Surrey are currently unbeaten and at the top of National Cricket League Division One whereas we are in the lower reaches of Division Two and yet they only managed to beat us by six runs."He continued: "What we have to do now is to keep up our challenge for promotion back to Division One in the county championship, and with Richard Johnson being in the England One Day squad and likely to be called up and Andy Caddick injured, the coach and the players will have their work cut out to meet this challenge.""As a result of our defeat on Wednesday the coach and the captain know that we have to do some rethinking regarding the National Cricket League which has now become a priority," he added.Somerset are without a game in the round of championship matches that get underway today, but are next in action when they take on Worcestershire in the first game of the Bath Festival that starts next Wednesday.The county boss said: "We have our next crucial championship match at Bath on Wednesday, and the good news for those people who travel to the ground by car is that this year there will be no problem with parking on the Bath Rugby Ground, whatever the weather!"

Just a few minutes after close of play on the last day of the CricInfo Championship season at Taunton during which Somerset had beaten Northants, Chief Executive Peter Anderson told me, “This was a fitting way to end the championship season. We played well all through the game, and when the pressure was on in the run chase we remained calm and reached the target in a professional manner, which has been the hallmark of our cricket this year.”Somerset Coach Kevin Shine said, “This was a lovely way to end the championship season, with a fabulous run chase. Who’d have thought it earlier on in the day.We have sent a fairly good crowd home happy after creating a one day atmosphere towards the end, which was lovely to see.”He went on, “Woody and Coxy got us off to a flying start, and it was brilliant to see Keith get the winning runs with a six.” All rounder Ian Blackwell, who took five Northants wickets in their second innings, and who has played such a major part in the Somerset success story this season said,” Two hundred and forty off forty two overs – we’d settle for that!”

India fast bowler Mohammed Shami, who has not played international cricket since the World Cup in February-March, has been picked among 30 cricketers to be part of a preparatory camp ahead of the series against South Africa.Shami had suffered a knee injury early on the tour of Australia from December 2014, but had bowled through the pain. He missed only two games across four Tests, four ODIs in a tri-series with Australia and England and then eight matches in the World Cup. He went for surgery upon returning home and had spent his rehabilitation period at the National Cricket Academy in Bangalore.

India squad for preparatory camp

Batsmen: Virat Kohli, Shikhar Dhawan, Murali Vijay, KL Rahul, Cheteshwar Pujara, Ajinkya Rahane, Rohit Sharma, Karun Nair, Suresh Raina, Ambati Rayudu, Kedar Jadhav, Manish Pandey
Wicketkeepers MS Dhoni, Wriddhiman Saha, Naman Ojha
Allrounders: Stuart Binny, Ravindra Jadeja
Spinners R Ashwin, Amit Mishra, Harbhajan Singh, Axar Patel, Pragyan Ojha, Karn Sharma
Seamers Ishant Sharma, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Umesh Yadav, Varun Aaron, Mohammed Shami, Mohit Sharma, Dhawal Kulkarni

This training camp, also to be held in Bangalore from September 21 to 27, will be the first time Shami will be back with the India team in five months.The rest of the 30 members include the core of the Indian team along with the fringe players who have already tasted international cricket. Karun Nair, the Karnataka batsman, is the only uncapped player although he had been with the Test team in Sri Lanka. Wriddhiman Saha and M Vijay, who had to come home after the P Sara Test due to hamstring injuries, are also in the mix.Ravindra Jadeja, who was chosen as part of the India A squad to play a three-day game against Bangladesh A from September 27, also finds a spot. The final day of the camp clashes with the first day of that fixture, and Jadeja, Ojha, Nair, Shikhar Dhawan and Varun Aaron are in both squads.Jadeja is one of three left-arm spinners along with Pragyan Ojha and Axar Patel in the 30-man training squad. Harbhajan Singh has also included, indicating he still remains on the selectors’ radar.

Usman Khawaja is a near certainty to be chosen in Australia’s squad for the World T20 in India despite being overlooked for both the upcoming T20s against India and the ODI squad to tour New Zealand. Australia’s national selector Rod Marsh said Khawaja would be better off playing a Sheffield Shield match to prepare for the Tests against New Zealand, though, rather than potentially being only a backup in the ODI group.Australia chose 17 men for the three T20s against India, starting in Adelaide on Tuesday, but Marsh said it was likely that several of those players would not make the final 15 for the World T20, a squad that will be named after the ODIs in New Zealand. Khawaja scored 345 runs in the Big Bash League at the phenomenal average of 172.50, and was Man of the Match in the final for his 70 in the Sydney Thunder triumph.”Well, would you pick him in your T20 side at the moment?” Marsh said when asked if Khawaja was likely to make the World T20 squad. “Three blokes [the other selectors] are going to have to give me a pretty good case to change my mind. Usman is right up there as far as being included in the T20 World Cup squad.”Khawaja is yet to make his Twenty20 international debut, but is in the form of his life and has not been dismissed for less than 50 in any format since October. Since then he has made Test scores of 174, 9*, 121, 144 and 56, and BBL scores of 109*, 62, 104* and 70. Marsh said there was nothing more Khawaja needed to do in the eyes of the selectors.”We tried our hardest to work him into the side,” Marsh said of the ODI squad to tour New Zealand. “But we just couldn’t find anyone to leave out of the side, because they’re all in fantastic form… It’s very disappointing to him, but he probably should make a phone call to Shaun Marsh and ask him how he felt being dropped after getting 182 [in the Hobart Test].”We’d love to be able to pick 16 or 17 because I think there are 16 or 17 players who actually deserve to be in our one-day side. But we’ve got two very important Test matches and there being no guarantee that Usman would have played if he was in the side, then he’s better off playing a Shield game. That’s the way we decided.”Another notable component of the ODI squad was the inclusion of the uncapped legspinner Adam Zampa, who has impressed the selectors in the shorter formats and picked up 12 wickets at 22.50 for the Melbourne Stars in the BBL season. He is competing with fellow legspinner Cameron Boyce, currently part of the T20 squad, for a place in the World T20 group.”That’s exactly what’s happening,” Marsh confirmed. “His accuracy, his competitive nature, his batting and fielding – he’s a pretty good package. Boycey is also a pretty good package. We’ll wait and see how he goes against India and we’ll wait and see how Adam goes against New Zealand.”

Murali Kartik has signed with Middlesex as their overseas player for 2008. In nine Championship matches this summer he has taken 37 wickets at 25.48.”We are delighted to have signed Kartik for a further season,” John Emburey, the county’s director of cricket, said. “He is a world-class bowler who has fitted in well with the team. With the regulations reducing the number of overseas players to one per county next year, it is crucial to sign a proven match-winner and we have done that with Kartik. It is sad to lose Chaminda Vaas who has performed so well for us, but we need a world-class spinner to compete for honours next year. We are committed to winning trophies and Kartik will be an integral part of an improved squad next year.””It’s a brilliant feeling to come back to a place like Middlesex with all its history,” Kartik said. “All the players, staff and supporters have been very gracious in their support towards me and made me and my family feel very wanted. It will be good to have that feeling once again next year.”