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English county cricket has always been characterised by its festival weeks.Evocative names like Ashby de la Zouch, Weston-super-Mare and Moreton inMarsh have, over the years, given the fixture list an appeal that could notbe matched by an everlasting rotation of county headquarters.Some of these festivals still flourish, and how appropriate that the mostfamous of them all, Scarborough, was the venue when Yorkshire secured theCricInfo Championship this year – their first title in the competition for 33 years.Even the Scarborough festival has changed. Not so long ago it was an end-of-season party with serious cricketers playing cricket that fell just a littleshort of the highest level. Anyone who needed a couple of wickets to reach a hundred in the season, or a few runs for a thousand, would be very disappointed to turn out for, say, T.N. Pearce’s XI and return home without achieving their personal landmark.When players turned up in some of the out of the way venues, usually having made their way through high-season holiday traffic to arrive at some ungodlyhour, they would all complain about the accommodation, the catering, and thesize and condition of the dressing rooms. Batsmen would complain that thepitches were dreadful, as would the bowlers at some of the flatter ones.All in all, the cricket was good or, at least, different and the presence offestival weeks certainly spiced up the daily round of cricket. Most importantly, the crowds would flock in, having fixed their holidays theprevious year to coincide with the next festival of cricket.That has changed along with the face of English cricket. Two three-day matches fitted rather neatly into a week, especially when there was a Sunday League match to be played as well. One four-day match and perhaps a limited-overs game do not make the same financial sense. That is what it comes down to. Why go to all the expense of transporting the trappings of a county match to a distant venue when there is a perfectly good headquarters ground, on which so much has been invested, standing empty?That is what has put a question mark over the continuance of so many festivals. The latest is not by the sea or in some scenic delight. It is in metropolitan Essex. To be exact, in Valentine’s Park, Ilford.At one time, Essex did not have a permanent home. They were a team of gypsies forever plying the A12 as they travelled from Leyton in the west to Clacton in the east, stopping at Ilford, Romford, Brentwood, Chelmsford, Colchester, Southend, and Westcliff on the way. British Railways Eastern Region did much the same.Gradually, as Chelmsford was developed as the county’s home, other venues were dropped. Nowadays, only Ilford, Southend, and Colchester are visited, and Ilford is under threat.Essex have just issued a statement which reads as follows: “Following a recent meeting of the Club’s Executive Committee it has been provisionally decided to proceed with the Ilford Festival in 2002.”The Festival has caused the Club considerable financial difficulty over several years, and the Club is at an advanced stage of negotiations withRedbridge Council for financial support for the future.”Chief Executive David East said: “The problems we have been experiencing with the Ilford Festival are common knowledge, and it is essential that we receive significant support from Redbridge Council if the Festival is to proceed next year.”Our Committee has decided to defer a final decision at this time, but has confirmed that it will not proceed if we are unable to obtain the necessary funding from Redbridge. Early indications are very favourable, but we understand that the Council’s budget will not be finalised until the early New Year.”We very much wish to return to Ilford to continue with our great traditionof first class cricket in the region. The Festival is the pinnacle of ourcommunity development activity in the Ilford and East London area, and weremain hopeful that Redbridge Council will provide the support we need tocontinue with the Festival.”Although our commitment to cricket development will remain, if Council funding is not forthcoming the matches provisionally scheduled at Ilford will have to be switched to Chelmsford.”East makes an important point. A large county in geographical terms, Essex has always felt it important to take the game to outlying areas. Not only does it boost membership by doing so, it also brings more young players into contact with the stars of the game. A couple of players to have come to Essex in recent years from the very same Ilford club whose festival is now under threat go by the names of Graham Gooch and John Lever.It is also the part of the world where the young Nasser Hussain learned his cricket. And yet that whole corner of a cricketing county could be left without any first-class fixtures unless a council budget can be manipulated to find a way of preserving the game. Otherwise, the name of Ilford could be added to a list that includes the likes of Ashby de la Zouch, Weston-super-Mare and Moreton in Marsh – the list of former first-class venues.

Shashank Manohar has emerged as the latest favourite to be the next BCCI president, a position he vacated only four years ago, after receiving the endorsement of the powerful Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), the political outfit that not only runs the federal government in India but also has a wider say in the running of the Indian cricket board. Sharad Pawar, Manohar’s mentor and predecessor as BCCI president, is understood to have pulled out of the reckoning and told his supporters to back Manohar.On his part, Manohar declined to divulge details of his meeting with Arun Jaitley, the federal finance minister and former Delhi association chief, which he termed as a “private conversation”. He also said he would wait for his group’s opinion before making up his mind.However, he acknowledged that he met Jaitley on Thursday evening in Delhi. Also present at the meeting were BCCI secretary Anurag Thakur, also the head of the BJP’s youth wing, and Ajay Shirke, former BCCI treasurer and current president of the Maharashtra Cricket Association.A BCCI official, speaking off the record, said a formal announcement was likely by the BJP camp soon to make public that Manohar was their “unanimous choice” candidate to stand for the elections for the president’s post necessitated by Jagmohan Dalmiya’s death on September 20.This fresh development also means N Srinivasan, the current ICC chairman, is likely to be an isolated figure within the BCCI with the BJP clearly wanting to maintain a distance from him given his recent legal issues. Srinivasan had met Pawar in Nagpur on Wednesday evening and assured him support from his camp. Pawar did not commit to any deal, but informed his supporters who, as reported on Friday, were a disgruntled lot.At the Delhi meeting, called by him, Jaitley made it clear that the BJP was willing to support Manohar but not Pawar. The other possibility was Rajiv Shukla, the IPL chairman, who has expressed his desire to fight the elections. Shukla, however, did not have adequate support. Manohar and the rest asked Jaitley himself to stand for the top job in BCCI, but he refused and made clear his preference for Manohar.According to the BCCI official, till Friday Pawar was banking on the 18 votes he felt he was assured – 12 from the Srinivasan camp and six from his own group of supporters. But with the key members of his own camp – including Maharashtra, Saurashtra, Madhya Pradesh and Vidarbha – not in favour of Srinivasan, the official said, Pawar realised he was standing on weaker ground. The BJP’s antipathy towards Srinivasan was also made this clear to him.If Manohar does indeed step into the ring as candidate, all aspirants from the East Zone will now have to retreat. According to the BCCI’s rotation policy it is the turn of the East to have the first say in nominating a name for the interim president’s position, whose tenure will end in 2017. Immediately after Dalmiya’s death, majority of the six members of the East Zone had stated that they did not want an outsider and would work towards picking one of their own. But that seems highly unlikely now.

Jeff Vaughan’s third first-class century has today saved South Australia fromoutright defeat in the Pura Cup match against Western Australia at theAdelaide Oval.After scoring a duck in the first innings, the 26-year-old was keen to makeamends this time around. He confessed to feeling “pretty bloody ordinary”after that dismissal and was keen to hang about and do his part for theteam. And staying in also meant making runs.”We couldn’t afford to bat for four hours and still not be in front of them,but our number one goal was to still be on the Oval at stumps,” he said.”It’s still disappointing from a team perspective because we really stuffedit up in the first innings. But to come out of it with a fighting draw waspleasing.”Rebacks’ captain Darren Lehmann was full of praise for the right-handedbatsman, who occupied the crease for nearly six and a half hours for his unbeaten 131.”It was a great knock. Real gutsy, especially coming in on a pair; it was anexcellent effort from him,” he said.But Vaughan didn’t do it alone, receiving plenty of support from Brad Youngin particular. Young, who batted for two hours for his 71 not out, scoredat a brisk rate, belting 12 boundaries. The pair chalked up a partnershipof 132 at better than a run a minute. The highlight was one Damien Martynover that yielded 15 runs, including three fours.Lehmann was more than happy with the draw. “It was a goodfightback for us, considering we went in last night at 3/100 or whatever.So to get out with a draw there, where in the past we’d fold and probablylose the game easily, was really good,” he said.The Western Australians, who held on for a draw in similar fashion intheir previous match against Queensland, would be disappointed with theresult, but can take heart from their excellent batting performance.Martyn (122) and Adam Gilchrist (102) both enjoyed fine knocks. Gilchrist,in particular, was in sparkling form, prompting Lehmann to label his century”one of the best hundreds I’ve seen in Adelaide”. The Australianwicketkeeper was named player of the match.Western Australia next faces Tasmania in Hobart in November, while SouthAustralia takes on a full-strength New South Wales team at the BankstownOval.Vaughan said the team was looking forward to facing the Blues’ stellarline-up. “It’s a good challenge for the team. We have had a positive startto the season and it’ll be a huge challenge and one that everyone is lookingforward to. You want to test yourself against the best in the game, sowe’re all looking forward to it.”

Nasir Hossain has played six innings in 12 ODIs for Bangladesh this year, never batting higher than No. 7. It is a position from which, given the nature of limited-overs cricket, one doesn’t always get a chance to build an innings. He has faced only 143 balls in ODIs in 2015, an average of less than 25 balls per outing. In his last two matches against India A, Nasir has faced a total of 167.On Friday in the second one-dayer against India, Nasir went out to bat at with Bangladesh A at 82 for 5 after 18.1 overs. He had plenty of time to get his eye in, build an innings and stretch the score as much as he could, with the only risk being a lack of batting partners. And that’s what he did. He started out playing second fiddle to No. 5 Liton Das, who was middling the ball better than the top-order batsmen, built a solid base as the sun shone more and more, and after Liton fell, launched an attack in the company of the tail-end batsmen.Nasir had been waiting for such opportunities to score big and bat under pressure. He later said he didn’t have a clearly defined plan when he walked out but knew that he wanted to bat out 50 overs.”I like batting at No. 7, I’ve batted there for the national team so I’m happy to do it here also,” he said. “When I was there, the wicket was good for batting, I just wanted to bat throughout. I always enjoy batting with Liton. There was no particular plan when I went out to bat, we were just looking to build a partnership and play till the end. So we played accordingly and the plan clicked.”Nasir had enjoyed Liton’s company in the first one-dayer too, when the pair added 120 runs from a score of 87 for 5 to give India A a scare in their defence of 322. Nasir followed that innings of 52 with a century today to steer the team out of a storm and then, with returns of 5 for 36, ensured they reached the shore, too.His only moment of weakness with the bat came in the 23rd over off Karn Sharma when he went for an aerial drive. Luckily for Nasir, the ball landed wide of a diving Gurkeerat Singh at deep cover. Those mistakes were corrected the next time he came down the track. It was against Karn again in the 28th over, but the ball was middled better and hit well wide of long-on for four.But Nasir knew that one small mistake, one mis-hit, would expose the tail. So he reduced the risks but still found the boundaries. There was a late cut off Gurkeerat in the 31st over, a back-foot punch off Rishi Dhawan along the ground soon after Liton was dismissed, and a sweep to bring up his fifty off 54 balls in the 37th over.The tougher parts came with the tail-end batsmen. Nasir’s 50-run, seventh-wicket partnership with Arafat Sunny had taken the score past 200. Arafat fell in the 43rd over, but Nasir chose to wait before switching gears. It was only once Shafiul was run out, in the 46th over, that Nasir floored it.He followed his nudge to third man for four with a single to keep strike. And on 76, he targeted Suresh Raina, who had conceded only eight runs from his two overs, with a slog sweep off the first ball and then a cover drive over the in-field. Two balls later, he unleashed another powerful drive to sprint to 88, and made his way into the nineties with a boundary in the next over.His celebration on reaching the three-figure mark was not as dramatic, a manner perhaps similar to his first ODI hundred, but he knew he had done what he was expected to do, and what he was eagerly waiting to accomplish.”Every partnership was very important, the one with Liton was a big one, but runs with Sunny and Rubel were equally important to post 252,” Nasir said. “The pressure was always there but I wanted to bat all 50 overs, I didn’t have a target in mind.”He batted for over two hours when the chips were down, something he enjoys and something he was first selected for back in 2011.”I really enjoy batting when the team is under pressure,” Nasir had said after his maiden ODI century nearly four years ago. “When four or five wickets are down, I love batting in those situations. I really don’t know why but I really enjoy it.”

Heavy rain washed out the sixth day of play in the World Cricket League in Jersey.Although it would have been possible to reschedule the games to Thursday, the designated rest day, the event technical committee decided to stage the three Group A matches then but not the Group B games. Only the Japan-Singapore fixture, which was washed out on Monday and was re-arranged for Thursday anyway, will go ahead, ensuring that all sides in Group B will have played four matches.All teams in Group B, as a result of the matches abandoned, were awarded one point each. That will be a relief to Jersey, who as a result go through to the semi-finals, but will be a blow to Afghanistan, who needed to beat Jersey today to guarantee their own place in the last four. They now need Japan, without a win so far, to defeat Singapore, or at least not allow then to win well enough to take their own Net Run Rate past Afghanistan’s.The Group A matches have no major consequence as USA and Nepal, who are pitted against each other, have both already qualified.

If Colin Graves, one of the men charged with bringing a fresh new look to England’s professional circuit, has had any fleeting doubts that an overhaul is necessary, those doubts will have been largely banished by Yorkshire’s deepening financial plight.Yorkshire won the Championship in 2014, and provided a steady stream of players for England, yet their finances remain bleak after announcing a loss of £300,000 for 2014, adding to debts already in the region of £22m.The county only survived a decade ago thanks to Graves’ financial support. Now he is in charge at the ECB, he is determined to examine all ways that can improve cricket’s popularity and relevance and put the game on a firmer financial footing.A respect for the game’s eternal verities will not be allowed to cloud the imperative for England’s professional circuit to make a stronger connection in the modern era.Although Yorkshire’s results did bring the consolation of halving the £600,000 loss the previous year, their continued financial straits are an indication of the dangers facing the English counties, where total debts are estimated around £120m. Results, though, have been mixed – Notts and Sussex have recently announced satisfactory financal figures.Without their success in producing England players, Yorkshire’s finances would have made even grimmer reading. Income from the ECB increased by £400,000 thanks in part to prize money for winning Championship and increased payments in respect of the development of England players and their representation for the national side.But international match revenue in 2014 was only £2.2m, 30 per cent of total income, slightly down on the previous year, even though the Test against Sri Lanka took place later in the year, in June, and Headingley sold out for an ODI against India in which the local favourite, Joe Root, made a match-winning century.Yorkshire, under their new chief executive, Mark Arthur, are making concerted efforts to strengthen links with the public in a county which professes to house the most committed cricket followers in the land but which seems reluctant to prove it at the turnstiles, amid grouses about high prices and the poor standard of Headingley.Despite ground improvements in the last decade, Headingley remains a work in progress and the old rugby stand could be closed for the next few years after parts of it were condemned as unsafe during a recent inspection.During the year the club received a £1m payment from the ECB which was used to repay a short term loan that was taken out in 2013 to repay £500,000 of a long-term loan from Leeds City Council loan and to fund capital projects.Paul Hudson, director of finance, claimed: “Improved results after a period of heavy financial losses.”Yorkshire are now pinning their hopes on what Hudson called “a significant investment” in the installation of permanent floodlights, which will allow NatWest Blast matches to begin at 7pm, instead of 5.30pm when the clog of the Leeds rush hour made attendance impossible for many thousands of would-be spectators. Only the Roses match, though, is a certain sell-out – and thanks to a washout in 2014 many spectators will get in for free this year.But Yorkshire spectators’ parochial disdain for England is damaging their own county to an extent many have yet to come to terms with.The second Investec Test against Sri Lanka was a compelling, fluctuating affair – Sri Lanka won when last man Jimmy Anderson was caught off the fifth ball of the last over of the final day.But even heavily reduced admission prices over the final three days – as low as £5 with free entry for juniors on the last day – could not attract more than 13,000 spectators over that period.Arthur pointed out at the time that the total aggregate attendance of 38,000 was significantly better than the 29,000 for the 2013 game against New Zealand, but revenue was down.Yorkshire have opted not to replace their 2nd X1 coach, Richard Dawson, who has joined Gloucestershire as chief coach, preferring to appoint from within.With Yorkshire in such financial disarray, and further ground improvements held at the moment at the architects’ drawing stage, no wonder that Dickie Bird, the former Test umpire, club president, and (in the Broad Acres at least) national treasure, has felt the need to offer to stump up the cost of a dressing room balcony out of his own pocket.

Players are hoping umpires will allow them a little more leeway for on-field banter during the upcoming IPL season, if a unique interaction on Saturday is a sign to go by. The point is believed to have been made by Rohit Sharma, the Mumbai Indians captain, during an interaction with match officials on the first day of the two-day IPL officials’ conclave.It is understood that Rohit urged umpires to not intervene when players are involved in banter that stays within stipulated boundaries. Rohit was all for players behaving well, but urged that they be allowed to express themselves in the heat of the moment as long as they don’t cross the limits.One of the key reasons for the BCCI to invite a captain for the conclave was to make the officials understand players’ perspectives. The BCCI officials also felt the need for such an initiative because of the increased involvement of Indian match officials. For the first time since the IPL’s inception in 2008, Indian officials this season will considerably outnumber their overseas counterparts. Of the 26 match officials recruited for the IPL’s 2015 season, 17 – 13 umpires and four match referees – are Indian.The officials welcomed the initiative and were delighted to have heard the players’ views in an informal situation. According to one of the officials in attendance, the initiative would “definitely be helpful for the umpires as well as players.”Besides Rohit’s interaction, the first day of the workshop saw Simon Taufel, the ICC’s umpire performance and training manager, brief officials about the dos and don’ts of umpiring in high-pressure situations.

ScorecardIan Westwood worked hard against a probing attack and on a slow pitch•Getty Images

Ian Westwood’s willingness to graft for runs made this just about Warwickshire’s day, although there were satisfied expressions on the faces of the Yorkshire bowlers after restricting their opponents to 270 runs from 97 overs after winning the toss and losing only four wickets.It was one of those days when we fall back on words such as ‘absorbing’ and ‘attritional’ and other trusted euphemisms when what we have watched has not exactly been thrilling. But there is a place for such days in county cricket, when you admire the professionals for sticking at it, for maintaining their concentration when rewards are not easily won.No two players fitted that description more than Westwood, the Warwickshire opener, and Tim Bresnan, the Yorkshire bowler, who were the principal protagonists in this gritty drama, between two sides who may well be slugging it out for the title again come September.Warwickshire finished second to Yorkshire last season, although they were thumped by an innings both at Headingley and Edgbaston. But these are different circumstances. Yorkshire, doubly hit by the combination of England call-ups and the injury to Ryan Sidebottom, have in their ranks a 17-year-old seamer making only his second first-class appearance and a 37-year-old offspinner summoned out of semi-retirement.Warwickshire will see a chance, therefore, to grab a few points at the expense of their rivals. With Ian Bell and Jonathan Trott away, and Tim Ambrose and Chris Woakes injured, they are not at full strength either, but Westwood did his best to provide Warwickshire’s bowlers with something to work with in their absence. He did them proud, batting through the day for an unbeaten 151, unflustered by the dismissal of Varun Chopra, his captain and opening partner, to the third ball of the day, building partnerships first with William Porterfield and then Sam Hain, who made an attractive half century.Westwood is a solid servant to his county. He was 11 when he first represented Warwickshire in age-group cricket and is the kind of player for whom benefits were designed, which is why he is so deserving of the one he has been granted this year. A former captain who struggled to combine leadership with consistent form, a player too who has suffered more than his fair share of injuries, he is keener perhaps now to take any opportunity that comes his way and this was one, on a pitch offering little help to the bowlers. It had no great pace, either, so he had to work for the runs.He took a blow on the hand on 71 and had one clear moment of good fortune, on 118, when Jack Brooks, running around from mid-on to field, made a direct hit with his throw to the bowler’s end with Westwood seemingly well short of his ground only for umpire Jeremy Lloyds to surprise the Yorkshire fielders by not giving him out.It was a moment of frustration for Yorkshire. But they kept commendably to their disciplines, too, in particular Bresnan, whose action has been tweaked in the hope that he succumbs to fewer injuries, so that he relies more on rhythm than muscular effort.So far he looks in good fettle and bowled the two best deliveries of the day, at the start of the first and second sessions, to remove Chopra and Porterfield, who were both drawn into playing the ball as it moved away and took the edge. Bresnan finished with 3 for 39, the pick of the bunch, although all of the frontline bowlers bowled good lines and offered few easy chances. Matthew Fisher, the 17-year-old playing in only his second first-class match, looked anything but a rookie.James Middlebrook, the 37-year-old offspinner who has returned to his first club as an emergency stand-in, let no one down either. With Adil Rashid away with England, Yorkshire have only the 19-year-old Karl Carver as a specialist spinner with senior experience, so Middlebrook has been registered for the season.He may been required rarely – and may not have time, given that he has been made captain of Bedfordshire and is working towards umpires’ qualifications – but having been released by Northamptonshire only at the end of last season he is hardly rusty, even though he imagined that his first-class career was over. Should he take a wicket, it will be his 50th in first-class matches for Yorkshire.

The repercussions of Pakistan’s worst-ever defeat to India in the Kitply Cup came to light today with Nasim Ashraf, the board chairman, lashing out at the team management in the aftermath of an embarrassing 140-run loss on Tuesday.In an email written to team manager Talat Ali, a copy of which was published in and various Urdu newspapers, Ashraf was especially severe on Shoaib Malik’s captaincy and fitness, and picked out Kamran Akmal for “unsporting behaviour” after he claimed a catch that he hadn’t taken cleanly.”Last night’s performance against India in which we lost by over 100 runs was embarrassing,” Ashraf, who will fly to Dhaka on Saturday to have a meeting with the team management, wrote. “It is not a question of losing a match but our overall performance and the lack of resolve and commitment bothered me the most.”Ashraf has sent copies of the email to coach Lawson and Malik and asked the team management to respond in 24 hours “so that timely action can be taken before the next match against India [assuming the sides meet in the final].”Among the many points he raised he questioned why an additional spinner was not included in the team, also inquiring about the fitness of Malik.”The previous game against Bangladesh had clearly highlighted the characteristics of the track in Dhaka, that the spinners were going to play crucial role. The team selected for India game had four fast bowlers. Also, you [referring to Ali] clearly told me that Malik was 100% fit and therefore was the second spinner in the side. What happened to that? Why did Malik not bowl?”Ashraf then turned his attention to the team’s lethargic body language, saying that they looked “paralysed” in the field after the flying start made by India. “Nobody suggested to the captain that he must have a mini conference with the vice-captain and other players – junior or senior – and take corrective action. Even the commentators were talking as to the possibility of changing the bowling and bringing in Shahid Afridi at an early stage.”Akmal’s place in the side looks to be in danger after Ashraf called for his ouster. “[The] wicketkeeping was pathetic, especially after Kamran Akmal dropped the catch and pretended that he had held on to it. This is unsporting behaviour but perhaps one has to give him the benefit of the doubt as he may not have realised that the ball had slipped out from his hand, which was picked up by the cameras.”I do not want such behaviour from any Pakistani player. Please warn everyone. We ought to be looking at playing another ‘keeper.”He said that fast bowlers should be advised not to “overextend themselves” referring to the 38 extras Pakistan conceded, a problem that has plagued them for a considerable period of time. “They should have been instructed to bowl strictly to a line and length and to contain especially when the batsmen were in such full cry. It seemed as if we were just continuing with tactics that were clearly not working. We need to be more proactive on the field.”Except for a few on the field, the body language was not competitive. We were smiling and joking as if we were some junior team which was happy just to be given the privilege of playing a top team. This has to stop.”He directed the team management to conduct a fitness test on Malik “so as to determine clearly whether he can bowl full 10 overs.” He also asked the touring management to decide on the playing XI for a probable summit clash with India, and, to request for an additional spinner if they needed one.The publication of the email offset another chaotic day in Pakistan cricket, culminating in the sacking of Saleem Altaf, a former cricketer and senior board official, reportedly after allegations that he was leaking information to the press.Ashraf later admitted to reporters at Gaddafi Stadium that he had sent the email. “Yes definitely I sent it. We discussed it and the team have to take corrective action. Hopefully the performance in the next game will be better.”The contents of the email are bound to raise questions as to why the chairman of the board is interfering to such a degree in what are essentially matters for the team management and selectors.

The West Indies Cricket Board (WICB), today announced that there has been a change of venues for the two Tests between West Indies and Bangladesh, beginning next month. According to Michael Hall, Chief Cricket Operations Officer at the WICB, “The change became necessary to accommodate Victory Day celebrations in Dhaka, the Bangladesh capital, on December 16.”The change therefore means that Dhaka’s Bangabandhu Stadium will now host the first Test from December 8 to 12, while Chittagong’s M.A. Aziz Stadium will stage the second and final Test from December 16 to 20.Victory Day is the way Bangladesh celebrates the anniversary of the end of its nine-month war with Pakistan that led to the country’s independence in 1971.The rest of the itinerary remains unchanged. The West Indies are expected to play in two Tests and three limited overs internationals beginning on November 29.