Daniel Vettori has put down the narrow defeat at the hands of the Warriors in the opening game of the Champions League Twenty20 to “sloppy fielding” and “poor execution”

ESPNcricinfo staff24-Sep-2011Daniel Vettori, the Royal Challengers Bangalore captain, has put down the narrow defeat to the Warriors in the opening game of the Champions League Twenty20 to “sloppy fielding” and “poor execution”. There were a couple of dropped catches, misfields and a missed run-out in the Warriors’ chase of 173 and the bowlers, too, erred at the death during a late onslaught by the batsmen.”I thought at the halfway stage that 172 was a pretty good score,” Vettori said. “Our batsmen maintained a standard, and at the halfway stage, I thought we could win. We were in a good position till the last few overs, and then some sloppy fielding and poor execution cost us the match. There were a few half-good overs and the match slipped.”The Warriors stole a couple off the final delivery of the high-scoring match to seal a three-wicket win. “It was a tricky wicket,” Vettori said. “When I say tricky, you had to get the length right. If it was a little full or a little short, you got hit; most wickets fell to length balls.”In a see-saw game, Royal Challengers were on top when Warriors were reduced to 82 for 4 in the 12th over. Johan Botha and Ashwell Prince then staged an excellent recovery to put their team in the ascendancy but the Warriors only sneaked through in the end after a couple of more twists.”We needed 13 off 7, that last ball was going to be important. Thirteen off the last over with more than two a ball is quite tough. Nicky [Boje] came in and hit the first one for six, and that took a lot of pressure off us for the last over,” Botha, the Warriors captain, said. Botha smashed 42 off 24 balls and added 73 in quick time in the company of Prince, who made 74.”When I came in I just wanted to get a little bit of a partnership going,” Botha added. “Once I got to about 10 or 15, I said I’m going to keep playing [like that]. It looked like it was my night, really. I kept going, there were a couple of top-edges. One went for the six, the other fell short of the fielder. When it goes for you, you’ve got to run with it. As soon as we got some momentum, things started to flow nicely.”

Jamaica squeaked past Sagicor HPC by one wicket with one ball to spare, to enter the final of the Regional Super50

ESPNcricinfo staff28-Oct-2011Jamaica‘s last pair came together with their team needing 13 runs off as many balls, and held their nerve to take their side into the final with one ball remaining. It was heartbreak for the Sagicor High Performance Centre at Providence Stadium in Guyana, as Krishmar Santokie (8*) and Odean Brown (5*) put the seal on a match they had set up with the ball earlier, when they picked up a combined 5 for 81 in 22 overs to derail the HPC innings.Santokie did the early damage, striking three times in his first spell to reduce HPC to 23 for 3 in the seventh over. Devon Thomas stemmed the rot with a defiant 33 off 69 balls, before Brown and Nikita Miller made middle-order incisions to reduce HPC to a sorry 84 for 7. Veerasammy Permaul and Keron Cottoy hung in gamely to add 57 for the eighth wicket and lead their side to a fighting 176 for 9 in 50 overs.Jamaica lost their talismanic captain Chris Gayle early, and were thereafter consigned to a very slow start. When Tamar Lambert was out at 103 for 4 in the 37th over, the innings was devoid of momentum and was fast losing resources too. Jason Holder struck three quick blows to make it 130 for 7 in the 43rd over, and Jamaica seemed to be on their way out of the tournament. Andre Russell counterpunched in typical fashion with 24 off 14 balls to take the score to 164 by the time he was eighth man out in the 47th over.When Miller was dismissed nine balls later, without addition to the score, HPC seemed set to make the final, but Santokie and Brown were about to ruin their day. With three needed off two balls, Brown smashed Nkrumah Bonner for a straight boundary to push Jamaica into the final at the same ground on October 29, where they will meet Trinidad & Tobago.

The youngest man ever to play Test cricket for Australia, Ian Craig, believes handling the pressure and atmosphere will be Pat Cummins’ biggest challenge if he plays at the Wanderers this week

Brydon Coverdale in Johannesburg15-Nov-2011The youngest man ever to play Test cricket for Australia, Ian Craig, believes handling the pressure and atmosphere will be Pat Cummins’ biggest challenge if he plays at the Wanderers this week. If Cummins makes his debut he will be the second-youngest player to win a baggy green, at 18 years and 193 days; Craig was 17 when he took the field against South Africa at the MCG in 1953.Craig was a precocious talent and had played nine first-class games before his first Test, including a tour match against the South Africans in which he made 213. By comparison, Cummins has nine first-class victims from three games, but the selectors have been impressed by his potential, and after last week’s loss in Cape Town they could rush him in for the Johannesburg Test.”Pat Cummins has only had three first-class games and I think I’d had eight or nine,” Craig told ESPNcricinfo. “It’s a big change to go into a Test match. The pressure and the atmosphere is all much greater than anything he would have encountered in the past. It’ll be a challenge for him if he does get picked. I’m sure the selectors will take that into consideration at any rate.”The Wanderers ground is nicknamed the Bullring and it can be an intimidating place for opposition teams. Cummins played a Twenty20 international at the venue earlier on this tour and picked up two wickets, and if the selectors choose him for the Test, which starts on Thursday, it will likely be at the expense of Peter Siddle or Mitchell Johnson.Despite having played only three first-class matches, Cummins has impressed plenty of experts: Jason Gillespie, Brett Lee and Shaun Tait all said this week he was ready for Test cricket, while the former South Africa coach Mickey Arthur said he would have no hesitation in playing him. Australia captain Michael Clarke is also confident Cummins could handle the workload required in Test cricket.That is a very different requirement for a fast bowler compared to a batsman. While the pressures on Craig when he made his debut were largely mental – he had been labelled the next Bradman by the press – he said he hoped the selectors would not rush Cummins in unless they were certain he was physically up to the task.”I don’t know the boy but the selectors must have confidence that he’s mature enough,” Craig said. “I think probably the bigger issue is his physical condition. He’s probably still growing a bit. To be a fast bowler bowling at that sort of pace is pretty demanding on the body. A lot of the young fast bowlers have had injuries.”I just hope they don’t rush him and they allow his body to develop properly. The selectors and people around him have obviously made that decision and I certainly bow to their greater knowledge and proximity to him.”Craig went on to become Australia’s youngest Test captain but did not fulfil his potential as a Test batsman, and played only 11 times for his country. He said it was important Cummins stayed true to himself if he was chosen this week.”Just try and be relaxed and do what you’ve been doing in the games to get there,” Craig said. “It is about confidence. It’s probably different for a bowler than it is for a batsman. The bowler at least gets the second opportunity, whereas a batsman can get out first ball. The pressures may be a little bit different. He’s obviously got pace, it’s just whether he can physically stand up to it.”

Australia’s difficulties against the swinging ball, to be addressed by a remedial batting clinic in Melbourne next week, have offered a tonic to Zaheer Khan and the India bowling attack

Daniel Brettig in Canberra15-Dec-2011Australia’s difficulties against the swinging ball, to be addressed by a remedial batting clinic in Melbourne next week, have offered a tonic to Zaheer Khan and the India bowling attack.Zaheer is not playing in the Indians’ opener against a Cricket Australia Chairman’s XI, but he spoke enthusiastically of his preparation for the upcoming Test series against batsmen unnerved by the sort of swerve his bowling can possess.”It is definitely encouraging as a bowling unit [that Australia are struggling against swing], our strength as Indians has always been swinging the ball,” Zaheer said. “That’s what we’re going to rely on here as well, even though the wickets here will offer bounce, we’ll still be trying to use the swing of the ball, so hopefully we’ll be able to extract some swing in the matches to come.”As a bowler it is all about getting into the right areas. If you’re hitting the right lengths and able to get the ball moving then you’re going to trouble any batsman in the world if you get those channels going.”Zaheer, 33, has not played for India since suffering a hamstring tear in the first Test of the series against England at Lord’s in July, and subsequently underwent ankle surgery, which made his selection for Australia conditional on the basis of some solid Ranji Trophy appearances. Having fulfilled the selectors’ wishes, he is now on course to lead the line against Australia.”I’ve definitely had a lot more time to prepare as far as this series is concerned,” he said. “I feel I’ve done everything possible to get here, and very happy with the way things are going personally for me. Happy with my rhythm in the nets and a bit of match practice will help me.”It was a long flight for us so it is important we get into rhythm. I got to see a bit of bowling, I am happy with the way the whole approach has been, and I’m looking forward to playing the next one myself.”The need for Zaheer to be fit is increased by the fact that Ishant Sharma’s left ankle may again be giving him grief, though loose ankle strapping was the explanation offered by a team official for a brief and interrupted appearance at the bowling crease on day one of the tour match. Wes Robinson, one of two local centurions, said Ishant had bowled well enough in his two brief spells.”He seemed to be getting through it okay,” Robinson said. “He only bowled that one over first up and then I think he went off for some treatment, and then he came back and bowled a few overs, so he got them through okay. Obviously hadn’t faced him before so I don’t know if that’s his quickest or whether he’s just warming up into it but he certainly got them through a bit.”Zaheer described Ishant’s withdrawal as “just a precautionary measure”, and preferred to speak about the promise shown by Umesh Yadav, who took three wickets on a batsmen’s day.”It is very good to see someone bowling like that, I’ve been mentioning back in India it is good to see him bowl 140kph plus, which is really important. I’m sure the wickets here are going to suit his style of bowling because the wickets are going to provide that extra bit of bounce.”It is still early days for him, and the more he plays the more he is going to learn, so it is all about exposure at this level, and I’m sure with time he’ll learn more things.”

Hamish Bennett, the New Zealand fast bowler, will undergo surgery next month as he tries to overcome a persistent back injury

ESPNcricinfo staff27-Jan-2012Hamish Bennett, the New Zealand fast bowler, will undergo surgery next month as he tries to overcome a persistent back injury. Bennett, 24, has been out of competitive cricket for more than ten months and is expected to miss the rest of the domestic season.”Scans have revealed that a combination of factors are combining to put pressure on a nerve in Hamish’s back and thus causing recurrent pain when he attempts to bowl at 100%,” NZC medical director Ian Murphy said. “An orthopaedic spine surgeon has recommended that the best management at this stage would be to undergo surgery to attempt to alleviate the pressure on the nerve.”Bennett last played a competitive match in March, for New Zealand against Sri Lanka in the group stages of the World Cup. He was ruled out of the latter stages of the tournament after injuring his ankle and Achilles tendon. He missed New Zealand’s tour of Zimbabwe in October and November due to his sore back.He had hoped to be fit in time for the HRV Cup which began last month, but the back problem kept him on the sidelines.

The impressive thing, from an England perspective, is the lack of denial following the back-to-back Test defeats to Pakistan

George Dobell in Dubai31-Jan-2012If the first step to recovery is the acceptance of a problem, then England might just have embarked on the road to rehabilitation.England arrived in the UAE as the No.1 ranked Test side and with a glowing reputation. Two Test defeats later, however, and England’s flaws have been revealed. England may remain, officially, the best ranked Test side, but the title has a hollow ring at present.It leaves England at a crossroads. Overcome their issues with Asian conditions and, in particular, high-quality spin bowling, and this period may yet come to be remembered as little more than a blip. Fail to overcome the spin threat and they will slide down the rankings. How they respond to that challenge may well define the legacy of this side.The impressive thing, from an England perspective, is the lack of denial. The team held a meeting before training on Tuesday – an echo of events of early 2009 when they were humbled in Jamaica – where they accepted that it was time to face facts: they have a significant challenge and their currents methods are not working.It was a point made eloquently by Ian Bell. In many ways, Bell’s problems in this series are a microcosm of the side’s issues. He arrived in the UAE with an excellent reputation, on the back of a wonderful year but has, to date, looked all at sea against Saeed Ajmal, in particular. Bell is averaging just nine and has been dismissed by Ajmal’s doosra three times in four innings.”There is no point saying we were great the last two years and nothing is wrong,” Bell said. “We all know we haven’t played good enough cricket here and we would be stupid just to carry on what we’re doing.”There’s no point in looking back and saying how great we were against Australia or how great we were against India. It is about now and the next challenges. We have a lot of cricket in the subcontinent and we have to get better; individually and as a unit. We can’t keep looking back and patting ourselves on the back – that’s all gone.”Bell was the man dropped after that humiliating reverse in Jamaica, but feels there are few parallels between that situation and England’s current problems. Instead he hopes that England’s success over the last couple of years should give them the confidence to face this new obstacle and insists that the side are relishing the challenge.”It was the right decision to drop me,” Bell said. “I hadn’t scored runs for a while. It’s a different scenario now. I’ve played consistently well now for two years and we’ve had two bad Test matches. So, I’m looking to put in a good performance in this next Test. I don’t think I’ve lost my confidence that’s for sure. I can look back on some good things over the last two years.”The final piece of this England team is to win in the subcontinent. There’s no doubt we’re not doing things quite right and that we’re going to have to get better. It’s exciting, as well. We’ve been given a real whack here and it’s nice to know in Test cricket that there are still challenges for us.”My preparation has been good. We knew what we were going to come up against. I knew I would be starting, in most innings, against spin,” he added. “I still feel I’m hitting the ball nicely. I just haven’t been able to get past that initial hard stage of batting – that first 20-ball period. That’s the danger time, you need to work hard to get to the period where it becomes a bit easier and you can begin to pick the different deliveries. In three of my innings, I’ve been knocked over quite early.”All credit to Pakistan. They have played very well. They have bowled particularly well at new batsmen. They’ve bowled at a good pace; it’s really quick spin. You have to work hard. Batting in the subcontinent you have to get through those first 20-25 deliveries, then things seem to come that little bit easier. So far I haven’t really got through that so I’ll be desperate to work hard to stay in there and survive, then go on to get some runs. I’d love to use my feet to the spinners, but I’ve not been in there long enough to do that.”Bell is realistic enough to know that there is little time for England’s batsmen to learn. The third Test begins on Friday and, barely a week after the conclusion of this tour, England will face similar challenges in Sri Lanka. He makes no promises of success, only assurances of hard work and good intent.”We all sat down and spoke about what we have done and the mistakes we’ve made,” Bell said. “And about how we want to get better. We are all desperate – as a group – in wanting to win Tests in the subcontinent. We can achieve that. It is the last thing that we need to do – we need to start scoring runs in the subcontinent. If we can do that we can start moving forward again.”We need to improve. That might not happen by the next Test but we have Sri Lanka coming up and India, so we have to talk about it now. We have to be honest. There is no point putting it off until Sri Lanka or India because we might make the same mistakes again.”

West Indies captain Merissa Aguilleira fought a hamstring injury to score an unbeaten 39 to guide her team home in a tense, low-scorer at Windsor Park

ESPNcricinfo staff23-Feb-2012
ScorecardWest Indies captain Merissa Aguilleira fought a hamstring injury to score an unbeaten 39 and guide her team home in a tense, low-scorer at Windsor Park. India made only 83, but West Indies were made to fight till the end, winning with two balls to spare.Aguilleira walked in with her team in trouble at 10 for 3, after Ekta Bisht and Amita Sharma made early inroads. She found support from Deandra Dottin, who made 16. Aguilleira, who had to receive treatment for her injury, faced 48 balls and hit two fours.For India, opener Mithali Raj top scored with 27 but the middle order struggled to push on against the spin duo of Anisa Mohammed and Stafanie Taylor. Taylor finished with 2 for 16, while Mohammed took 1 for 19.Speaking after the match, Aguilleira said she took it on herself to shoulder the responsibility: “I had to fight really hard today. I had to be brave. I had to fight the pain. My hamstring gave me some problems but we will have that fixed and I will be ready for tomorrow’s match. I am well pleased that I was able to stay at the crease and do the job for the team. We were in a hole and as captain I knew I had to stand there and bat to the end.”It is always good to lead from the front. Today we lost some early wickets but we still had plenty time in the game when I went in. I am not a power-hitter so I was able to settle in and work the ball into the gaps and build an innings. That was ideal for me … yes, there was the pressure of losing wickets, but time was on my side and I was happy with the way I stayed there and guided the team to victory.”West Indies lead the four-match series 2-1.Edited by Kanishkaa Balachandran

One group of nations has indicated it certainly wants to the recommendations of the Woolf report to be implemented

Tariq Engineer02-Mar-2012In the aftermath of the fairly radical Woolf report on independent governance for the ICC, one group of cricketing nations has indicated that it wants its recommendations implemented. Some of the leading Associate countries would like the Woolf recommendations – about a clear pathway to Full Member status, a fairer financial model with funds distributed on a “needs” basis and the adoption of best governance practices – followed through by the ruling body.Of these, leading Associates believe the recommendation that Full Member status need not be restricted only to Test playing nations will be key to their game development and financial growth.A handful of the Full Members have already commented publicly on the report, which has called for sweeping changes in the administration of cricket and the functioning of the ICC. The BCCI’s working committee rejected the key recommendations concerning the restructuring of the ICC, but Cricket Australia and the PCB have been more measured in their comments, saying that it would be wrong to reject the report out of hand and that the ICC executive board should seek a consensus among cricket boards before deciding whether to implement it or not.Bangladesh was the last country to be granted Full Member status back in 2000. More recently, Ireland have pushed their claim to be elevated from the ranks of the Associate Members, sending a letter to the ICC stating their intentions in 2009. However, the lack of a transparent set of conditions for qualification as a Full Member has stymied their ambitions. The Woolf report has recommended that two new Full Members be inducted in 2013, but the Associates are still unclear about the criteria for promotion. “All the Associate countries want to know are the steps so everyone is clear about what they have to do,” Roddy Smith, Cricket Scotland’s chief executive, told ESPNcricinfo. “At the moment there is a very clear step between being an Affiliate Member and being an Associate member. There is no real clear step between being an Associate and being a Full Member.”At present, all 10 current Full Members are also Test-playing nations, but the report recommends Test status should not be a necessary condition to becoming a Full Member, a suggestion that has the backing of the Associates. “It [Test status] seems an artificial way of stifling the development of the game across the world,” Tom Sears, the chief executive of Cricket Kenya, said. “With three formats of the game, you can be a little bit more fluid with that. Obviously, we saw Zimbabwe not competing recently in Test cricket for a number of years. So I don’t think it is any pre-condition that you have to pay Test cricket.”A road map to Full Member status is considered crucial to the continued development of cricket in the Associate countries, as is the access to the Future Tours Programme, because the opportunity to compete at the highest level would not only attract more young athletes to the sport, but also funnel investment into the game through sponsorships and matches against the leading countries. In addition, more games against the Full Members would mean the Associates would be battle-hardened ahead of the ICC’s global events.”As we saw in the last World Cup in 2011, we [Kenya] suffered from chronic lack of exposure to playing the leading nations,” Sears said. “We were found very wanting. So we need to play more of the leading countries on a regular basis to expose our players and to develop our game.”Smith suggested that the process could start by having the Associates play some of the lower ranked Full Members on a more regular basis so that they have a consistent benchmark against which to judge their standard of cricket rather than playing a global event once every four years.”That in our view is the key,” Smith said. “To me, it is not so much playing against each other – those games are fantastic and we want them and are a real boost to our countries – but the real challenge for the Associate countries is closing the gap between ourselves and the lower-ranked Full Members.”The Associates also backed the recommendation that the ICC should distribute funds to Members on a needs basis as opposed to an automatic entitlement. Currently, 75% of the net profits go back to the Full Members evenly. The report recommended the abandonment of fixed percentages of revenue being given to Full Members and suggested the ICC distribute revenues strictly on a needs basis.Such a change, according to the report, would eradicate a “culture of entitlement” currently demonstrated by the Full Members. Opening up the funding system would also give the Associates the resources to invest in developing the game beyond their national sides.Sears said Kenya’s entire budget for the year is roughly $1.5 million for a country with 40 million people. In comparison, the English county of Leicestershire, with a population of about 648,700, had revenues of more than £3m for the last financial year and posted a profit of £294,000. The ECB has also invested heavily in recent times, sanctioning £30 million to help improve facilities and invest in club cricket in 2008.Cricket Canada president Ranjit Saini said in a statement that under the existing system, they are unable to invest in grassroots development of any kind. “In our particular case being a cold weather country, we are forced to undertake major overseas tours for preparations towards any major qualifiers, like the upcoming World Twenty20 Qualifier. In the process much of our funding disappears in the cost of travel and accommodation for our team. We would expect that a need-basis system will likely deal with this issue and create an equal competitive environment.”Afghanistan have shown what is possible for emerging cricket nations•AFP

Such a move could theoretically also benefit India, which is currently responsible for somewhere between 60 to 80% of the cricket’s revenues, and has a large pool of domestic players and a significant number of international stadiums. India would then be entitled to a larger percentage of money from the ICC than a country such as New Zealand.The parts of the Woolf report that are likely to be the most contentious are those that cover governance. It starts by recommending a restructuring of the ICC’s executive board to make it more independent and less dominated by the bigger countries and also recommends a re-examination of the rights and benefits of the current Full Member nations, calling for measures to increase transparency in dealings by the ICC and its members.According to the Associates, a more inclusive and transparent governing body is necessary given the growth of the game over the last decade. “The sport should be run, governed, managed for 105 countries and not just on 10, which I think was a theme that Lord Woolf came back to time and time again,” Warren Deutrom, Cricket Ireland’s chief executive said. “It now needs to be recognised as a global sport. The mechanisms and structures that have governed the sport since its inception would not appear have been made if not redundant, now need examination, following the growth in the sport, particularly in the last 10 years in terms of the number of countries that play and also the amount of commercial activity that is involved in the game now.”Deutrom believes the game’s governing body needs to adopt “more meritocratic principles” and said the “higher-ranked countries shouldn’t have a forever unchallenged status simply by virtue of being Test countries”.Another of Lord Woof’s recommendations was adopting the principles of one country, one vote, but Smith wasn’t sure that was necessarily the right approach. “India, for example, should have a stronger voice at the ICC than a small Affiliate country with 500 players,” he said. “There has to be a balance. There has to be respect made and recognition that some countries in world cricket are far stronger than others.”What was most important, all the Associate countries agreed, was that the system governing the game should be based on merit. “The key point in the Woolf report is it bases itself on meritocratic principles,” Smith said. “It does talk about governance principles that are held in business and sporting organisations. If that is implemented, then I don’t think the Associates could ask for any more.”

Sourav Ganguly, the former India captain, has said that offspinner Harbhajan Singh has the ability to lead the national team following his showing for his IPL franchise, Mumbai Indians

ESPNcricinfo staff06-Apr-2012Sourav Ganguly, the former India captain, has said that offspinner Harbhajan Singh has the ability to lead the national team following his showing for his IPL franchise, Mumbai Indians. Harbhajan has not featured in India’s Test or ODI squad since August 2011.He returned home mid-way through India’s 4-0 Test whitewash in England, after picking up an abdominal muscle strain, and was not picked for the home series against England and West Indies, the tour of Australia or the Asia Cup. However, during this period he had captained Mumbai Indians, in place of an injured Sachin Tendulkar, to the Champions League T20 title. Earlier this week, in wake of Tendulkar’s decision to stand down from the post just before the start of IPL V, he was named the franchise’s permanent captain.”Harbhajan’s captaincy was brilliant in the Champions League and yesterday too,” Ganguly told , referring to the opening game of the IPL, in which Mumbai Indians beat Chennai Super Kings by eight wickets. He said Harbhajan’s body language as captain had been “terrific”. “He has the ability to lead India some day. I have always said I will have Harbhajan in my side.”Ganguly also said Tendulkar was a “reluctant” leader. “We have seen in the past that he [Tendulkar] is a reluctant captain. It’s his personal decision. And also, it has got to do with Bhajji [Harbhajan] winning the Champions League.”As captain of the Pune Warriors IPL team, Ganguly will go up against Harbhajan when Warriors take on Mumbai Indians on Friday at the Wankhede Stadium.

A hundred from Luke Wright helped Sussex maintain their unbeaten record in Clydesdale Bank 40 Group C as they eased to a four-wicket win over Yorkshire

25-May-2012
ScorecardLuke Wright continued his impressive start to the CB40•Getty Images

A hundred from Luke Wright helped Sussex maintain their unbeaten record in Clydesdale Bank 40 Group C as they eased to a four-wicket win over Yorkshire.Wright made 103, only the second List A century of his career, as Sussex won their third successive game with 6.1 overs to spare. He was playing at Hove for the first time in over 10 months after missing much of last season after knee surgery and only played his first game of the season for Sussex last Sunday after a stint in the IPL with Pune Warriors and a bout of illness.Wright, who played the last of his 46 ODIs in Sri Lanka in March 2011, was back to his ebullient best against a toothless Yorkshire attack who never looked like defending a total of 238 after Sussex had thrashed 51 in the first five overs of their reply.Ed Joyce went early, caught in the covers in the second over, but Chris Nash and Wright blazed away in a stand of 49 off 31 balls before Nash, who had struck eight boundaries in his 31-ball 44, was run out when Mitchell Starc deflected Wright’s straight drive onto the stumps.The out-of-form Murray Goodwin, who has only scored 68 runs in 10 innings this season, went cheaply but Wright maintained the tempo with Joe Gatting in a fourth-wicket stand of 90 in 14.1 overs as the pair matched each other shot for shot.Gatting struck two sixes off Azeem Rafiq on his way to a run-a-ball 45 but Sussex suffered a brief wobble when he holed out to deep mid-wicket and Matt Machan was taken at short mid-wicket, both off Joe Root’s off-spin.Wright, however, seldom looked in trouble. He reached his hundred with his 10th four and also hit two sixes. The only disappointment was that he did not see Sussex home as, with four runs needed, he was run out by Adam Lyth’s direct hit at short mid-wicket having faced 95 balls for his 103.It was a night to forget for the Yorkshire seamers and in particular Australian Starc, whose first over was hit for 21 and who finished with no wicket for 71 from his eight overs.Yorkshire surrendered crucial momentum at the end of their innings, losing their last five wickets for 11 runs in 17 balls, and had to settle for 238 for nine when a total in excess of 270 looked possible at one stage.All of their top-order batsmen got established but could not play the dominating innings fashioned later on by Wright. Root improvised well for 46 off 36 balls, sharing a stand of 65 in nine overs with Anthony McGrath, but when they departed in successive overs the innings went into steep decline.Chief beneficiary was Amjad Khan with 3 for 51 while Sussex’s spinners did a good containing job on a pitch offering turn and bounce with Nash, Will Beer and Monty Panesar all taking wickets.