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Scorecard and ball-by-ball detailsA waterlogged outfield and persistent rain ruled out any chance of play on the fifth day of the Port Elizabeth Test, which ended in a draw with only 201 overs having been possible over five days. Whenever play had been possible, the pitch threw up an excellent contest between bat and ball, with four batsmen scoring centuries, one tonking a 26-ball half-century, and the bowlers responding with 17 wickets, but the weather ruined any chance of a result. Replying to South Africa’s 417 for 8 declared, West Indies had ended day four on 275 for 9.The umpires inspected the outfield at hourly intervals between 10am and 1pm, but there was no improvement in its condition. Play was called off at 1.05pm. Kraigg Brathwaite was named Man of the Match for his innings of 106.

Pakistan’s Saeed Ajmal and Bangladesh’s Sohag Gazi can resume bowling in international cricket, after the ICC cleared their bowling actions following remedial work and retests.Ajmal had withdrawn from the World Cup in December to avoid taking “a risk with his career” and he can now be included in Pakistan’s squad only if a player gets injured. Pakistan had recently replaced the injured Junaid Khan with Rahat Ali only two days ago.

‘System working reasonably well’ – Allardice

The ICC’s drive against chucking has gone some way towards rectifying a problem that had “started to get out of control”, according to the ICC’s cricket operations manager Geoff Allardice.
“I think it’s been widely acknowledged that it was a problem in the game that it started to get out of control,” Allardice said in Adelaide. “Particularly the umpires have taken a strong stance in reporting bowlers [with suspect actions], and I think the results of the testing have supported their views during that time.
“It’s also encouraging that a number of bowlers have been able to rectify their actions in that period of time and come back to this tournament in a condition where they’re able to bowl without restriction. [Sachithra Senanayake] from Sri Lanka and [New Zealand’s] Kane Williamson have gone through the mediation process and had their actions tested and found to be legal.
“From our point of view, we just want bowlers bowling within the laws of the game, and that no one’s getting an unfair advantage in any way. I think the system is working reasonably well at the moment.”

At the retests, it was revealed that the amount of elbow extensions in both the offspinners’ bowling actions for all their deliveries was within the 15-degree level of tolerance permitted under the ICC regulations for the review of bowlers reported with suspected illegal bowling actions.However, the umpires are still at liberty to report Ajmal or Gazi in the future if they believe they are displaying a suspect action and not reproducing the legal actions from the retests. Umpires have been provided with images and video footage of the bowlers’ significantly remodeled legal bowling actions.Their retests were held at the Sri Ramachandra University in Chennai on January 24.Ajmal was suspended from bowling in September after his action was deemed to be illegal for all deliveries. Before he was banned, tests revealed his elbow extension was going up to 42 degrees on average, leading to his suspension. He underwent extensive remedial work on his action with former Pakistan spinner Saqlain Mushtaq. Ajmal went through three unofficial Tests that showed his offspinner and faster ball were within the legitimate 15-degree limit, though his doosra was still beyond the limit.Gazi was reported for a suspect action in Bangladesh’s second ODI against West Indies in August last year and was suspended from bowling in October after he was tested in Cardiff. He had been working towards a remedy with Bangladesh spin coach Ruwan Kalpage, under whose supervision he had bowled in the nets during the Zimbabwe series.Gazi had not been included in Bangladesh’s 15-man squad for the World Cup.Ajmal credited former Pakistan offspinner Saqlain Mushtaq and Dr Paul Hurrion for their work on his remodelled bowling action. He said that he would play the World Cup if the side required his services.”I actually think I can be even more effective now as a bowler as I have added a couple of new deliveries to my repertoire which are the carrom ball and a seam-up delivery, without losing any of my existing deliveries,” he told . “I’m happy with the changes to my action and this period away from cricket has given me the opportunity to re-assess my bowling and to make some improvements and necessary changes.”This has been a tough time for me and my family. Never mind thinking about playing in a World Cup, there have been times of late that I was ready to quit cricket altogether as I was feeling so low and dejected. You start doubting yourself and you start doubting whether you will play cricket ever again.”Mentally at times I was drained and it was good to have the support of friends and family around me. As a cricketer I just want to play cricket, to entertain and to do my best for whichever team I am playing for. If my country needs me, then I will play in the World Cup. If I am not required, then I will watch the matches on television and wish the team all the best and hope they can lift the trophy.”

Australia have many match-winnners – Warne

Shane Warne believes Australia have never entered a World Cup with as many potential match-winners as in 2015. “We’ve been favourites a few times,” he said. “But … I can’t remember going into a World Cup with Australia having so many match-winners. There’s probably seven or eight guys who on their own could turn the course of a game no matter what. If you look around the other teams they’ve got two or three or maybe four.”
Australia enter their opening match against England at the MCG having won 13 of their past 15 ODIs against England in Australia. But, despite the talent, Warne said that record would mean little, given the pressure and expectations are vastly different from a bilateral or tri-series. “I don’t think that previous games and history comes into a World Cup tournament. Your mindset changes a little bit in a World Cup. It’s like ‘what happens if we lose to these guys?’ There’s a bit of a fear of not doing that well. But I think the Australian guys are in pretty good form, they’re pretty relaxed. I’ve spoken to most of the guys, the vibe is good in the team.”

Shane Warne believes Michael Clarke is fitter than he has been for five years and should have been picked for Australia’s World Cup opener against England on Saturday. Clarke has been ruled out of the game as he continues his recovery from hamstring surgery, though he is expected to return to the side for next Saturday’s game against Bangladesh at the Gabba.Clarke played in a warm-up match against the UAE in Melbourne on Wednesday; he top scored with 64, bowled two overs, fielded throughout the innings, and took part in further one-on-one fielding drills after the game. But the Australian management decided not to risk rushing Clarke back for the England game ahead of his intended return against Bangladesh.”I think he’s just ready to go,” Warne said at a promotional event in Melbourne. “Obviously the physios and everybody planned a certain path for Michael, they said ‘right this is the eight-week period, you need to do this and need to do that’. They’ve basically tried to break him. They’ve tried to break him with his fitness tests, they’ve tried to break him in all parts of it.”To see him come through with flying colours and be fitter than he’s ever been for at least three to five years, he reckons, being that fit at the moment, he knows deep down now that he’s done. There’s nothing more that he can do. He’s done everything, he’s ready to go. I’m expecting some big things from him. He’s pretty hungry at the moment to play.”When Warne says Australia “tried to break” Clarke, presumably he means it in a positive way, pushing Clarke to the limits to ensure he would not break down in a match. That is understandable, for Clarke has broken down in each of his past two ODIs, as well as his most recent Test. But Warne, a close friend of Clarke, believes Australia’s captain has many years left in him.”Some of the stuff I’ve been reading – you’d think he is 45. He’s only 33,” Warne said. “I think he can still play for a long time. I think that’s what they want, they want to make sure he’s okay. Stick to the program and then he’s got longevity, he’ll make the whole tournament and go on. He’ll play West Indies, the Ashes and keep going until he’s had enough. Hopefully that’s five years’ time because we need him out there.”He’s such a good player. You think back over the last few years, how well he’s done when the side wasn’t playing well. Let alone when it’s just started to come well under his captaincy. I think he’ll be hurting not playing this game. He’ll be itching. It’ll probably make him hungrier to play.”Warne said it was remarkable that Clarke was even in contention for this game, given the severity of the hamstring injury that he sustained during the Adelaide Test in December. Warne compared Clarke’s recovery to that of AFL footballer Nick Riewoldt, who had suffered a similar injury and took much longer to return to action than Clarke.”For me it’s testament to Michael Clarke and his endeavors, how passionate he is about the game and how much he loves playing for Australia,” Warne said. “For four to five hours of doing that work every single day, to get himself right.”I spoke to Nick Riewoldt last night and he had a similar injury with his hamstring and I think he was gone for 14 weeks. To show that he’s basically six weeks ahead of schedule – to someone like Nick Riewoldt who is an elite athlete. He was a little bit worse, but pretty similar. It just shows how hard he’s worked to get back.”

Besides being famous as the Pink City, Jaipur is also known as the City of Forts and Rajasthan Royals, the city’s franchise, know that as they have enjoyed an enviable record at the Sawai Mansingh Stadium. But for the second year in succession, Royals will be playing their home games in a different city.While Ahmedabad hosted Royals’ home games during the India leg last year, this season their home games will be played in Ahmedabad and Mumbai. Rahul Dravid, the team mentor, admitted that they were getting used to their adopted homes.”We are playing at home. We are playing in Ahmedabad and Bombay is home now. Obviously we miss [Jaipur] at a certain level. Jaipur was a place where we did very well and it was a ground we were very familiar with,” Dravid said at the Brabourne Stadium in Mumbai, which will host three of Royals’ home games this season.”I think the fact that we played in Ahmedabad last year should really help us. Last year lot of us went in to Ahmedabad quite cold. There was a tournament in Dubai as well, so it felt like we were playing all the 14 games away from home.”Royals had an impeccable record in Jaipur, winning 29 of the 38 games in the first six seasons. But they couldn’t play in Jaipur in IPL 2014 as Rajasthan Cricket Association failed to get the requisite clearances from the government authorities. This year, the question of staging games in Jaipur didn’t even arise since the RCA remains suspended from the BCCI.While Royals enjoyed a good run at the Motera in Ahmedabad in 2010, winning three of the four games, they had a mixed bag last year. Of the four games they played there, they won two. Still, Dravid expected better results at Motera in IPL 2015.”This year it’s a bit different. We have had a small camp in Ahmedabad, we have been there last year. We are more used to the conditions there,” Dravid said. “CCI [Brabourne] as well. it is a terrific ground to play cricket. It’s great venue and we are looking forward to playing here. Everyone is very excited to playing here at the CCI and opportunity to play at this great ground.”After training at the CCI for two days, Royals will head to Pune where they will open their campaign against Kings XI Punjab.Captain Shane Watson, who joined the squad on Sunday night along with his World Cup-winning teammates Steve Smith and James Faulker, stressed that with the depth in the squad and numerous matchwinners, Royals were no longer underdogs this year.”The squad that we have got for this IPL season, we have got matchwinners all the way through this whole team whereas normally, in the past we didn’t have as much as we do now. We have got world-class matchwinners as well so for me that is a very exciting thing, the group that we have got together for this IPL season,” Watson said.”We normally are underdogs but the quality of the players we have through our squad and the team that we play as well, we got to know what we have got and what we are able to achieve and that is a very exciting thing. The most important thing in the IPL is getting off to a good start with the way the season has mapped down this year a lot of games back to back to start. So we know we have to hit the ground running and with the quality of players we got I am sure we will.”

Mohammad Hafeez has said the new members in Pakistan’s limited-overs squad for the tour of Bangladesh are capable enough to dominate the home side.Responding to Shakib Al Hasan’s statement that the series was Bangladesh’s best chance to beat Pakistan, Hafeez expressed confidence in the team and said they were looking to extend the 16-year winning streak over Bangladesh.”(What Shakib said) is confidence and it’s a good thing if they have a believe in them,” Hafeez said. “I have heard Mashrafe is not playing the first match and Shakib will lead the side. But if you recall the recent past, Pakistan have dominated Bangladesh lately and apart from the one game in 1999 we never lost to them.”The talent of Pakistan team can’t be under rated,” he said. “These players have proved themselves in domestic cricket and then selectors have picked them. It indeed is a new era as we are definitely going with lots of new players. But as a unit we will give good results and they (new boys) are ready for the series.”Since 1988, Bangladesh have played Pakistan 47 times across formats, but their only win came during the 199 World Cup in England. The Multan Test in 2003 was the only instance since that Bangladesh within a touching distance of a second win but an Inzamam-ul-Haq masterclass saved Pakistan the blushes. But Hafeez said that Pakistan was in no way under-estimating the home side, especially after Bangladesh’s performance in the World Cup.”I think its more than winning and losing in the World Cup, the good thing is how you showcase your cricket and Bangladesh won lots of heart through their performance,” Hafeez said. “Their qualification in quarter-final was never in doubt because they played good cricket. We are not under-estimating them as a team, as they are very good in their own conditions.”It might look easy to beat them but they never been as easy. For the last 2-3 years they have developed into a good team.”Hafeez, who has opened with 26 different batsmen since his debut in 2003, is set to open with a new partner again: the 19-year-old Sami Aslam, a left-hander. When asked, if instability in the opening slot causes any disturbance to him he said, “It’s difficult to get adjusted but whatever role I will be given I will play to my best ability. Pakistan team’s problem is not numbers, Pakistan’s main problem is ICC ranking and how to improve it. We are strong cricketing nation and should bring us within top 3 in the ranking. That should be our aim.”

Stuart Broad has said he missed a sponsor-arranged media event on Thursday due to illness. Responding to newspaper claims that he had been involved in a “marathon drinking session”, Broad admitted to staying out late the night before but said his non-appearance had been agreed upon.Broad was supposed to join Ian Bell and Grant Elliott at a session arranged by England’s Test sponsor Investec at Lord’s but instead went home after feeling unwell. He said he had apologised to the ECB after adding to the week of negative press surrounding Andrew Strauss’ decision to bar Kevin Pietersen from an international recall.”I wasn’t on England team duty but it was probably the last thing the ECB needed in the headlines after the week that’s gone on with Straussy and KP,” Broad said. “I didn’t feel very well for an appearance on Thursday, spoke to the powers that be and decided that moving a bit of the appearance to Sunday and getting home and resting was probably a good option and that’s what we did.”A report in the on Friday suggested that Broad had not made it back to his hotel until 7am. Writing in his column for the ‘s sister paper, the , Broad said he had been suffering from a migraine.”While I admit I’d stayed out longer than I should have done professionally, the reason I missed the Investec event was because I suffered a severe migraine,” he said.”In nine years of playing for England I’ve never missed an event like this before and I’m very sorry on behalf of Investec and to my team-mate Ian Bell for leaving him to field 50 per cent of the questions on my behalf. It was definitely a story the ECB could have done without.”

ScorecardAlasdair Evans struck twice with the new ball to reduce Afghanistan to 9 for 3•Donald MacLeod/Cricket Scotland

Con de Lange struck with his first ball as a Scotland player and took three wickets to help reduce Afghanistan to 96 for 8 on the third day in Stirling. Replying to Scotland’s 233, Afghanistan ended the day trailing by 137 with Samiullah Shenwari batting on a 103-ball 29.Playing his first first-class match since August 2012, the left-arm spinner de Lange had Rahmat Shah lbw as soon as he was brought on as Scotland’s second-change bowler. He struck two more blows late in the day, off successive deliveries, to send back Mirwais Ashraf and Yamin Ahmadzai.De Lange’s strikes came on top of some excellent work from Scotland’s new-ball bowlers, Alasdair Evans and Safyaan Sharif, who reduced Afghanistan to 9 for 3 within the fifth over of their innings. Rahmat helped Afghanistan recover to some extent, with partnerships of 31 with Asghar Stanikzai for the fourth wicket and 33 with Shenwari for the fifth, but his dismissal triggered another slump, four wickets falling for the addition of 21 runs.Rahmat and Shenwari were Afghanistan’s most successful bowlers as well, the two legspinners picking up three wickets apiece in Scotland’s first-innings total of 233. The hosts added only six runs to their overnight total, with Rahmat picking up both their remaining wickets.

ScorecardOllie Rayner had plenty to shout about after playing a crucial role for Middlesex•Getty Images

“The first thing that anyone says is ‘Tall, 6ft 5in German offspinner who doesn’t impart an awful lot of spin on the ball’,” Ollie Rayner said after play on the third day at Lord’s.Rayner is not a cricketer who holds himself in lofty regard. He knows his limitations but his typically unspectacular performance against Hampshire has set Middlesex up to complete a fourth victory of the season and maintain very real Championship aspirations.Graeme Swann proved that reports of the death of the orthodox spinner were as exaggerated as those that prematurely saw off Mark Twain. One effect of the ICC’s newfound urgency about bowlers keeping within the 15-degree limit has been to imbue plain old offspin with new life.At English domestic level there are few better practitioners of the art than Rayner. He lacks a doosra or prodigious turn, but provides bounce and parsimony. It looked as if Rayner’s main value to Middlesex on the third day would be in yielding under two runs an over, thereby preventing the seamers from being overbowled in the sweltering heat. But in the evening sunshine he struck three times in six overs.At six minutes to 6pm, Rayner had the crowning glory of his day’s endeavour. Joe Gatting’s immaculate forward defensive was met only by air as he played for turn that was lacking, and his off stump was uprooted.Rayner joked that it was the doosra. But his lack of such a mystery delivery is not the issue it once was after the governing body’s clampdown on illegal actions.”It puts everyone on more of a level playing field,” he said. “I do feel now that things are getting picked up it is making the art of spin more recognisable in players that don’t have much mystery to them. You do need a something about you to bowl all these deliveries and it’s hard to do in an orthodox fashion.”Rayner has no pretensions of being a harbinger of doom for opposing batsman to rival Saeed Ajmal, who played such a pivotal part for Worcestershire last season.”It’s not a sexy role,” he said. “I moved up from Sussex to play more games and I knew I was going to play half my games at Lord’s, which isn’t notoriously good for spinners. It’s generally a holding role – you get through a few overs and build a bit of pressure and think ‘Okay, it’s my time to attack now’.”His bowling might eschew all histrionics but Rayner’s celebrations embrace them: he twirls away and raises his arms in a reaction that marries triumph with palpable relief. And rightly so. Rayner works hard for his wickets and seldom more so than here, when he got through 25 overs after completing a dour half-century in the morning.The upshot is that Middlesex will expect to complete a victory well before lunch on the final day. James Harris matched Rayner in taking three wickets, pitching the ball up and swinging it late and both ways to serve the latest notice of his rejuvenation. The 2015 Championship season has now brought him 48 wickets, more than anyone else in Division One; few can have garnered more satisfaction than that of James Vince, castled by an inswinger.Even before Rayner’s burst of wickets, his value lay in ensuring that Hampshire eroded their first innings deficit of 154 at a funereal rate. Sean Terry was assiduous in defence in bringing up a half-century in 153 balls, but it took Wheater’s emergence at No. 6 to briefly threaten Middlesex’s control. He needed 25 balls to overtake the score Will Smith had carefully compiled in 102.Wheater bristled with intent, driving fluently and being proactive about rotating the strike. He took it upon himself to attack Rayner, hitting four fours off nine deliveries. Perhaps here was a man to master Rayner’s non-mystery. But Wheater was snared playing across the line just before the close. With the second new ball only four overs old, it effectively confirms that Hampshire will leave Lord’s with their fourth defeat of the season and bottom of Division One.

ScorecardFile photo – Ben Dunk raised his fourth century of the season•Getty Images

Ben Dunk, Alex Doolan and George Bailey all peeled off centuries as Tasmania maintained their domination of the Sheffield Shield frontrunners Victoria on day two in Hobart.The Bushrangers captain and wicketkeeper Matthew Wade was reduced to bringing himself on to bowl near stumps in the middle of an unbroken partnership of 172 between Bailey and Tom Triffitt.Their stand capitalised on the platform laid by Dunk and Doolan, who added a match-shaping 296 together after the visitors had been bowled out for a mere 165 on day one.Dunk’s ton was his highest in first-class matches and his fourth for Tasmania this season, while Doolan’s contribution was a welcome return to form after he had endured a lean patch following his exit from the Australian Test side in late 2014.The pair were ultimately dismissed within nine runs of each other, both caught by Peter Handscomb from the bowling of Scott Boland, but Bailey and Triffitt ensured Victoria’s punishment was far from over.Victoria had built a big lead at the top of the Shield table but are now likely to come back to the field with two further rounds remaining.

The Pakistan Cricket Board has joined Sri Lanka Cricket in agreeing in principle to a proposal from the England & Wales Cricket Board to implement a points system for their tours of England later this summer.The PCB have given their blessing to the same suggestion that was put to SLC earlier this month, ahead of their own tour of England in May and June. The idea comes in the wake of the successful implementation of a similar system for the last three Women’s Ashes contests.Pakistan are due to play four Tests, five ODIs and a one-off T20I on their two-month tour from July to September, with the suggestion being that four points should be available for each Test victory and two points for the limited-overs contests.That would tally with the weighting given in last summer’s Women’s Ashes, which Australia won by 10 points to six.Initially six points had been on offer for the one-off Test match in the Women’s Ashes, but that figure was reduced to four after the 2013-14 series in Australia, in which England retained the Ashes after winning the Perth Test despite losing both of the limited-overs series 2-1.With a possible 28 points to be made available over the course of the ten fixtures in Pakistan’s tour, but with the Tests due to be played first, a 4-0 clean sweep for either team would be enough to secure 16 points and, with it, the series.The proposal has met with a mixed response from England’s cricketers, particularly those who might expect to play a part in all three formats.”Whatever it is, it’s going to make it extremely competitive and it might bring all three formats together a little bit more,” said Joe Root during an Investec golf day last week.However, his team-mate Ben Stokes was less enamoured, particularly by the suggestion that the idea might eventually be rolled out to the men’s Ashes.”I think it would be rubbish,” he said. “They’ve changed a lot of things, but Ashes is Ashes, it’s a massive series for England and Australia and I don’t see why it should get changed.”People who watch the game and follow the game, especially in the Ashes, would get a little bit like ‘why are we doing this?’ and I’d probably be in the same boat.”An ECB spokesman confirmed to ESPNcricinfo that the prospect of a points system was taking shape.”We have received an agreement in principle from the boards of both Sri Lanka and Pakistan and will release further details of the proposal in due course.”4.30pm BST: This article was updated with a response from the ECB