Guyana 6 for 1 trail Windward Islands 189 (Sebastien 63, Nagamootoo 5-68) by 183 runs
ScorecardMahendra Nagamootoo grabbed a five-wicket haul to sink Windward Islands for a paltry 189 as Guyana seized the honours on the opening day of the Carib Series match in Grenada.Nagamootoo spun out the key wickets of Junior Murray, Rawl Lewis and Liam Sebastian at vital junctures to break the Windwards backbone. An 85-run sixth-wicket partnership between Murray (34) and Sebastian (63) threatened a Windswards fightback when Nagamootoo trapped the duo in space of two overs to put Guyana back on top.For Windwards Craig Emmanuel (32) put up a brief fight at the top before Murray and Sebastian lifted them out of ignominy from a wobbly 62 for 5 to 147. Sebastian was the aggressor, blasting six fours and a six but once the duo fell Narsingh Ramnarine mopped up the tail. Guyana lost Krishna Arjune, the opener, off the last ball to reach 6 for 1 at stumps.

Zimbabwe have dropped controversial plans to reduce the forthcoming one-day series against Kenya from five to three matches after the board was condemned by the ICC for its action over this and the proposed tri-nation series in Bangladesh.Zimbabwe had agreed to play Kenya in five ODIs, but last week this was reduced to three matches without explanation, and without the Kenyans even being consulted or notified. On Thursday, a source inside Zimbabwe Cricket said that Kenya would be given an ultimatum – accept the revisions or the tour would be cancelled. He added that this decision had come from Ozias Bvute, the board’s managing director, although this cannot be confirmed.But it is understood that Bvute, who was in Dubai for an executive meeting, was given a tough time over Zimbabwe’s conduct and its complete failure to keep other boards advised of the situation. Earlier this month, ZC wrote to the ICC confirming the five matches and asking for ICC officials to be provided, so officials in Dubai were surprised at the about turn.Bvute is reported to have claimed that the change was because ZC could not provide TV coverage for third-umpire decisions for five games. However, under ICC regulations, TV replays are not needed for ODIs where a Full Member plays an Associate, as is the case here.Insiders believe that Zimbabwe are deeply worried that Kenya might win the series and so leapfrog them in the ICC ODI Rankings, thus depriving them of a place in the lucrative ICC Champions Trophy play-offs. ZC are also rumoured to be in deep financial trouble.Kenya arrive in Zimbabwe on Thursday and will play two matches in Bulawayo and three in Harare. They have been training hard under their new coach, Roger Harper, and do not lack in experience. Zimbabwe, however, have only been together two weeks since the end of the player strike and contain few faces with any real international exposure. They are also under a coach, Kevin Curran, who they have not always seen eye to eye with.This is a make-or-break series for both. But while Kenya are looking to prove that they can compete at the bottom end of the Full Member countries, and can live with any defeats, Zimbabwe, who suspended themselves from Test cricket last month, simply have to win to prove they have arrested the slide.The two met last October when Kenya toured and played a side labelled Zimbabwe A, but one which containing most of their best players, such as Tatenda Taibu and Heath Streak. Kenya won 3-0. Since then, the player drain inside Zimbabwe has continued apace.

Yorkshire often expect a frosty reception at Old Trafford but the scene that greeted the players on Monday was taking it to the extreme. The one-day friendly, if a match between these two teams can ever be classed as such, was delayed for 45 minutes as the ground staff hacked mountains of ice off the covers.Despite the chilly start, a decent crowd was able to watch a full match although the temperature never threatened to hit double figures despite wall-to-wall sunshine. Yorkshire warmed the hearts of their supporters, completing a 24-run win despite the match being their first serious cricket of the season.Lancashire have spent 10 days in St. Kitts, but laboured with the bat after restricting Yorkshire to 200 for 8. The top order struggled to find the boundary as Yorkshire’s young attack kept control. Stuart Law’s wicket – brilliantly caught at second slip by a flying Matthew Wood – put Yorkshire in command and they didn’t let up. Andrew Crook and Dominic Cork struck combative forties, but they had been left too much to do.The second of two matches, scheduled for today, fell victim to more seasonal conditions as heavy overnight and morning rain led to it being abandoned by 10am. Lancashire start their Championship season against Hampshire, at Old Trafford, on April 18, and Yorkshire a day later against the defending champions, Nottinghamshire.

On the first day’s play
We are really pleased in our camp about how it ended up – [Kumar] Sangakkara and [Thilan] Samaraweera really played well to get us out of a hole at 61 for 3. The way it was moving around this morning we could have been bowled out by tea time. I think if we had bowled first we’d have bowled them out by now. Obviously, we’d prefer to be four or five down rather then eight but I think its honours even at the moment.On the condition of the pitch
It got flatter as the ball got older and then once the new ball was taken it started to seam around again. I think it will stay seaming for the next couple of days and we were quite pleased to see some turn out there.On Mohammad Asif’s performance
Asif bowled well in the last Test and beautifully today, hitting a good length and moving the ball both ways to make it very difficult for our batsman.On whether Sri Lanka have the firepower to do something similar
[Farveez] Maharoof bowled beautiful in the last Test and he can do exactly the same job. We then have [Nuwan] Kulasekera and some pace from [Lasith] Malinga. While Asif bowled really well I didn’t think their other seamers backed him up well. I hope we can bowl better as a unit.On Sanath’s disappointing start to his farewell Test
It was perhaps not ideal to have a little ceremony just before going out to bat. I know I had a lump in my throat and goosebumps – it was a very special moment. But I thought Sanath did really well to bat for nearly an hour out there and then got a really good ball – hopefully he will fire in the second innings.On his first day in-charge
I enjoyed the experience. I have not been speaking to Tom [Moody] but he has been text-messaging the manager all the time. I think he is quite pleased too.

Daren Ganga, the West Indies batsman, has urged the entire Caribbean to unite behind whoever is chosen as the new captain.He is among the candidates to succeed Shivnarine Chanderpaul, having led Trinidad and Tobago to victory in the Carib Beer Series final. He told the BBC: “We need to come together and support one individual who’s going to take our team forward. When that happens, then we’re going to start the turnaround.”Chanderpaul resigned the captaincy earlier this month after an unsuccessful year in charge, during which West Indies lost all of the 14 Tests they played and 14 of the 16 one-day internationals.But a decision on who should be the new skipper has been delayed because of another contracts dispute between the players and the West Indies Cricket Board. “Time is of the essence. It’s how quickly we rise above what has happened in the past in terms of the strikes and contract disputes . . . we’ve got to realise that what is most important is West Indies cricket.”When we come to thinking about that, then we’re moving in the right direction. All the players are very eager. We’re sick of going on tours and losing matches. We don’t want to play every series and end up on the losing end,” said Ganga. “What the administrators and what the supporters need to understand is we all need to work together as one and no one is fighting against each other.”It’s a total or common consensus we need to come to and that is giving the support and making the right decision for West Indies cricket. We’re definitely going to be making some money from the World Cup being here, so we need to put things in place and ensure that even after World Cup we put ourselves in good shape in terms of the quality of our cricket and our facilities.”

Kevin Pietersen is likely to return from injury to face Sri Lanka in the Twenty20 game at The Rose Bowl on Thursday, and Paul Collingwood is also set to play despite sustaining a thigh injury during Tuesday’s ODI win over Ireland. Glen Chapple, who has an abdominal strain, will undergo a late fitness test.”It’s pretty much all right now,” Andrew Strauss said of Pietersen’s hamstring strain. “There was no point in risking him [against Ireland] but he should be OK for the Twenty20.”Collingwood too was optimistic, despite leaving the field for treatment during Ireland’s innings. “It’s a bit tender at the moment but hopefully I should be OK,” he told BBC Sport. “I could have stayed on and bowled a few more overs but it was tightening up and we thought it would be best to get it iced up. Hopefully it’s not too bad. We’ll see more when I get into running and sprinting then make a decision but I can’t see it being a problem.”While England have some international Twenty20 experience – the victory over Australia on the same ground a year ago kick-started a remarkable summer – this will be Sri Lanka’s first outing. However, they showed that they are likely to adapt quickly when they took on a PCA Masters XI at Arundel on Tuesday, thrashing the ball to all parts in making 180 for 3 off 16 overs before rain set in.A full house is expected at Southampton, with many fans arriving at 4pm to watch England’s World Cup match against Trinidad & Tobago on the giant replay screens. The Twenty20 game starts at 7.15pm.

Scorecard

After Rob Key’s century yesterday, it was Chris Read’s turn to send a message to the selectors on the second day at Canterbury, as he bolstered England A’s lower-order with a finely crafted century. After the loss of three wickets in the first hour’s play, Read joined Alex Loudon (51) to add 102 for the seventh wicket, as Pakistan’s problems were compounded by another untimely injury.Yesterday, their first-choice wicketkeeper, Kamran Akmal, sustained an injury to his left index finger, and today he was joined on the sidelines by their leading strike bowler, Mohammad Asif, who sent down just five overs before leaving the field with an injury to his right elbow. However, Pakistan’s tour manager, Zaheer Abbas, insisted Asif would be available for selection come Thursday’s first Test at Lord’s.In his absence, Pakistan’s attack was led by the legspinner, Danish Kaneria, who wheeled away for almost 50 overs for figures of 4 for 148. It was their seamers, however, who made the initial inroads, as Key lost his off stump to Adbul Razzaq for 136, Ravi Bopara holed out to cover off Mohammad Sami for 15 and Jamie Dalrymple was pinned lbw for 1, also by Sami.England A had lost 3 for 15 in the first hour’s play, but with the weather looking unsettled, Read and Loudon regrouped impressively. Read, who played the last of his 11 Tests against West Indies in Barbados over two years ago, stole a march on his England rival, Geraint Jones, who plays his county cricket at Canterbury. Though Jones is perceived to be the superior batsman, his performances have slipped away in recent months, and Read’s superb marshalling of the tail will not have gone unnoticed.He was stuck on 91 when joined by the last man, Stuart Broad, but kept his composure to clobber Imran Farhat through the covers to reach a 140-ball hundred. By the time play was suspended for bad light, the pair were still together, with the 19-year-old Broad growing in stature on 29 not out.England are set to name their Test squad on Sunday morning, but Read’s name is unlikely to feature, regardless of this innings. England’s selectors are known for their loyalty, and Jones’s experience in last summer’s pressure-cooker atmosphere will doubtless count in his favour, especially given the number of injury absentees that England are having to cover for.”People keep talking about making statements to selectors but I’m not trying to make any sort of statement I’m trying to play good cricket,” Read told reporters after stumps. “A criticism in the past was that I got out too often in the 60s and 70s but this year my conversion rate when I’ve got in has been pretty good, so I was happy to go on and get three figures today.”The only reason I was axed [from the England team] was a lack of runs and in the last two years I’ve done a lot of work to get my batting up to scratch.”Play was halted at 12pm local time (1100GMT) for Britain’s national two-minute silence marking the first anniversary of the London terror bombings. Players from both sides lined up on the outfield while spectators stood.

Division Two

Gloucestershire maintained their unbeaten record in the Pro40 this season with their fifth win on the trot over Derbyshire at Derby. Alex Gidman was the star for Gloucestershire with a brutal 84 from 60 balls, taking his side to an imposing 285 for 6, and he also took the key wicket of Travis Birt who made his highest score in the competition. His 84 came from 67 balls and it appeared he was taking Derbyshire to a win, but he received little support from his team-mates and Derbyshire fell short by 37 runs.

Ashish Nehra, the left-arm fast bowler, will not attend the fitness camp in Bangalore between July 25 and August 1 as he is playing club cricket in England. Kiran More, the chairman of selectors, felt that he should continue playing in England to gain match practice in his recovery bid from a back injury.Dinesh Mongia, recalled to the Indian ODI squad for the tri-series in Sri Lanka next month, will attend the camp with the rest of the squad. Mongia, currently playing for Leicestershire as their overseas player, was initially only supposed to attend the cricket skills camp, also in Bangalore from August 6. “Initially we thought he could continue playing till the camp begins on August 6,” More told reporters. “But then we discussed the issue and decided that Dinesh should be here.”Besides the 15-member squad for Sri Lanka, More announced that several other players, including regulars from the Test squad, have been asked to report for the first leg of the camp which starts on Tuesday. They include VVS Laxman, VRV Singh, Wasim Jaffer, Murali Kartik, L Balaji and Robin Uthappa.

John Buchanan’s mysterious pre-season boot camp has started with the players donning khakis and being split into groups of six with army rations and survival exercises. The four-day adventure has been planned to challenge the nationally-contracted men and will involve bush tasks in the hinterland of Queensland’s Gold and Sunshine coasts.First stop on the hectic schedule of team building was the Beerwah State Forest, which is an hour’s drive north of Brisbane, but it was a temporary break as the unit moved its base in the evening Canungra. The focus of the event, which is staffed by former SAS soliders, is on team building and to ensure the squad is physically and mentally strong in preparation for an important summer that includes the Champions Trophy, the Ashes and the World Cup.The commando nature of the camp has prompted concerns from several players, including Shane Warne and Stuart MacGill, as well as the players’ union. “I wasn’t sure whether it’s going to work,” Warne said, “but I think all of us have come here with an open mind to try and get something out of it and try and grab what it’s all about as far as teamwork and bonding and all those sort of things.”

Although Cricket Australia has insured their 25 contracted players “to the hilt”, according to a spokesman, the four days out in the wild are designed to be challenging rather than dangerous. “We’ve got to be reasonable,” Reg Dickason, the team’s security expert insisted. “We’ve got to take them outside their comfort zone but can’t be stupid about it. We’re dealing with elite athletes and we’ve got to do the right thing by them.””There will definitely be methods in John’s madness,” Dave Gilbert, the New South Wales chief executive, told the BBC. “There’ll be specific themes to the trip which will be about helping your team-mate and looking at ways at getting yourself out of difficult spots. It’s probably what the team needs at this moment in time.”They are very well paid. They basically lead an almost rock star existence, stay in five-star hotels and are feted around the world,” he said. “To have it tough for a few days won’t do them much harm at all.” Damien Martyn’s entry to the camp was delayed by a day after his wife Annika suffered minor injuries during a horse ride on Tuesday.