Virat Kohli was displeased by the amount of grass on the pitch for the first Test in Rajkot © Associated Press The Andhra Cricket Association (ACA) has promised a “neutral pitch” for Visakhapatnam’s Test debut a day after K Sriram, the BCCI curator who has been overseeing the pitch preparation at the venue, was quoted by PTI as saying it would turn from lunch on the second day. Sriram’s comments…

Anupam Sanklecha returned career-best figures of 14 for 94 © PTI Anupam Sanklecha followed up his first innings seven-for with seven more wickets in the second innings, finishing with match figures of 14 for 94 to help Maharashtra beat Vidarbha by an innings and three runs in Kolkata, their first victory this season. Needing nine wickets to win at the start of the third day, Maharashtra picked up three wickets…

Ashley Giles could be on the verge of a return to Edgbaston © ESPNcricinfo Ltd Warwickshire hope to have completed the recruitment of Ashley Giles as director of cricket by the end of the week. As ESPNcricinfo revealed at the time, Giles was the club’s first choice when they made the decision to sack Dougie Brown at the end of the season. Giles is currently director of cricket at Lancashire,…

File photo – Deepak Hooda narrowly missed out on his fourth century of the season as Baroda inched towards defeat against Railways © PTI Railways came to within 23 runs of winning their match against Baroda at stumps on the third day of their match in Nagpur. Having conceded a first-innings lead of 127, Baroda were bowled out for 239 in the second innings. They began day 3 on 27…

File photo – Bipul Sharma’s 86 helped Himachal Pradesh take a 76-run first-innings lead against Chhattisgarh © ESPNcricinfo Ltd Hanuma Vihari scored his fourth first-class double-hundred as Andhra took comprehensive strides towards an outright win against Tripura in Valsad. Vihari went from an overnight 144 to an unbeaten 233 (482b, 17×4, 4×6) as Andhra declared on 524 for 5, having established a first-innings lead of 353. Bowling 47 overs, the…

England 162 for 5 (Beaumont 78) beat Sri Lanka 161 (Hartley 2-23, Hazell 2-24, Marsh 2-25) by five wicketsScorecard Tammy Beaumont made 78 from 79 balls © Getty Images Tammy Beaumont anchored England’s run-chase with 78 from 79 balls to secure a 3-0 series lead against Sri Lanka in Colombo, with the fourth and final ODI to come at the same venue on Thursday. Despite losing the toss and being…

Match Facts Wednesday, November 16Start time 0930 local (0730 GMT) Zimbabwe didn’t test Sri Lanka’s inexperienced batting line-up on Monday, but West Indies’ attack could pose a bigger threat © AFP Big Picture Visiting teams to Zimbabwe often use their time here as a looking glass into the future: which new combinations might be worth exploring? Who are the up-and-coming players? Who’s staking a claim for the next major tour?…

George Bailey is heading for Hampshire © Getty Images Hampshire have signed George Bailey, the Australian batsman, on a two-year deal to play in all formats of the game. Bailey, at 34, remains an integral part of Australia’s one-day squad so unless his international career takes a nosedive, or he has retirement plans on his mind, he could miss a month of Hampshire’s season in June because of the Champions…

Explaining India’s initial reluctance to DRS, Sachin Tendulkar said they were not convinced of the technology © ESPNcricinfo Ltd Sachin Tendulkar has called for greater authority to be given to the third umpire to intervene and reverse incorrect decisions even when the player has not opted to refer it under the Decision Review System. He said the idea of the DRS was to ensure correct decisions were made consistently, and…