But for the difference of a few days, Ottis Gibson might well now be in Barbados, overseeing the preparation of the West Indies team for the forthcoming tours of Zimbabwe and South Africa as head coach. Instead, the widely travelled former Barbados and West Indies allrounder leaves South Africa on Monday for the Test series in Sri Lanka as the officially appointed bowling coach to the England team.Gibson has been in South Africa for the past two weeks on his first assignment since the confirmation of his full-time contract with the England and Wales Cricket Board. It is a one-on-one project with Steve Harmison aimed at getting England’s leading fast bowler, literally out of action since July with injury, technically and physically ready for the three Tests in Sri Lanka.As Gibson explained it during a net session at the Wanderers Stadium, England got in with their proposition days before he was to make a presentation to the West Indies Cricket Board in support of his application for the head coach vacancy.He first forwarded his interest and his CV to WICB cricket operations officer Tony Howard back in June and was subsequently asked to make a formal presentation on October 19. By then, following South African Allan Donald’s departure, he had been assigned to the England job on a temporary basis for the separate tours of Sri Lanka, for five ODIs in early October and for the forthcoming three Tests.”Things went very well in the ODI series in Sri Lanka which England won for the first time,” Gibson said. “I’d worked with the head coach Peter Moores before so he knew what I am capable of doing. He told me he wanted me to stay on.”Acquainted with his well-publicised interest in the West Indies job, the ECB moved quickly and submitted a permanent contract on his return from Sri Lanka. “The decision was whether to take it or wait for something else,” Gibson stated.By the time he went back to Barbados, with his young son, for a week’s holiday following the initial Sri Lankan trip, his mind was made up. There was no longer any point in pursuing the presentation to the WICB which ultimately named Australian John Dyson as head coach.”The England offer was what was on the table and I accepted within a day of it being put,” Gibson added. “I got back in touch with Howard and told him what was happening from the England side and that was that,” he explained. “They [WICB] didn’t indicate whether they wanted me for the job or anything like that, just that it was my decision to make.”While he was “absolutely delighted” to be with an England team that is “on the up”, with several promising young fast bowlers to work with, Gibson was convinced that there was still enough talent in the West Indies for him to have had a go at lifting them out of their lengthy decline.”When I was in Barbados, a lot of my friends told me I had done the right thing to take the England job, given the state of West Indies cricket,” he said. “I made my decision but I wouldn’t have put in for the West Indies in the first place if I didn’t believe that, with the right people around me, I could make a difference.”Gibson, looking as lithe and athletic as a 38-year-old has any right to, enjoyed a dream all-round season with Durham in the County Championship. He earned the prestigious Professional Cricketers’ Association Player-of-the-Year award on the votes of the players, and was beseeched by Durham to stay one last season.But he has no qualms about moving into coaching. “Durham’s success [winning the one-day title and finishing second in the Championship] and my own made you feel that you could go on for another year but you had to be realistic,” he said.In spite of his record – ten wickets in an innings against Hampshire, 80 wickets at an average of 20.85 overall, mostly from swing bowling in the high 80mph range, and 576 hard-hitting runs at 27.52-Gibson said he had to appreciate he was 38 and “not getting any younger”.Durham was the last of his many stops as player. Apart from two Tests, 15 ODIs and two A-team tours with the West Indies, he also represented Barbados, Border Gruiqualand West and Gauteng in South Africa and Glamorgan and Leicestershire prior to his two seasons with Durham.”The truth is that an opportunity like this, to be involved with an international team, might not come around again and I’ve always wanted to go out and prove myself as a coach,” he noted. A few days later and he might well have had the chance with the West Indies.
Shoaib Akhtar once again attracted controversy when he was fined by the organisers of the Twenty20 Cup for refusing to wear a sponsors’ logo during the event.A Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) official said on Tuesday that Shoaib was fined Rs10,000 after he flatly refused to wear the logo of Mobilink, which sponsored all the participating teams of the Twenty20 Cup held in Karachi from December 21 to 26.Shoaib, still in danger of being banned for doping, was told by match referee Anwar Khan to wear the cellular company’s logo when he featured in the Twenty20 Cup for the Rawalpindi Rams. He was told that all players have to wear the logo since the PCB has an agreement with the company. However, Shoaib refused, saying that he had no contract with the PCB and was not being paid by the board or the sponsors to do it.Shoaib hid the logo on his T-shirt with a sticker and played two matches for the Rams who were bundled out of the competition at the first hurdle.The PCB official said that after giving Shoaib repeated warnings, the event’s officials decided to fine him.Shoaib was not present to hear about the fine as was among 25 players invited by the PCB for a conditioning camp that got underway at the Gaddafi Stadium in Lahore on Tuesday in preparation for next month’s tour of South Africa.
On a day whose events were purely of academic interest, thanks to cyclone-induced rain washing out the first three-and-a-half days of play, Sri Lanka dominated, grabbing a bit of the psychological advantage for the rest of the series. A probing spell of left-arm seam from Chaminda Vaas engineered an Indian collapse, for their lowest-ever total against Sri Lanka, before the batsmen, led by the classy Mahela Jayawardene, managed some useful practice ahead of the second Test at Delhi in four days’ time.The ease and flourish shown by the Sri Lankan batsmen was in stark contrast to the pottering nature of India’s display. The difference in run-rates today – India crawled along at a little over 1.5 runs an over while Sri Lanka motored at close to 4 – may lead one to believe that the pitch was changed midway through the day, but the Indian batsmen did themselves no favours by retreating further into their shells when the choke was applied. The pitch wasn’t keeping as low as last evening and it was left to Mahendra Singh Dhoni, on Test debut, to breathe some life into the innings and save them from ignominy.For most of last week, there was no respite from the rain. On the final morning, it was more like a drought, not water but runs, with the batsmen managing just 19 runs in the first 20 overs of the day, including a period when they endured 38 consecutive dot balls. Staggeringly, Vaas’s first 11 overs of the day were maidens – the greybeards in the crowd probably harked back to nearly 42 years back when Bapu Nadkarni sent down 23 consecutive maidens in this city – and both Muttiah Muralitharan, who equalled Anil Kumble’s record for 24 caught-and-bowled dismissals, and Malinga Bandara, the legspinner, posed plenty of problems.There was no record 35th hundred for Sachin Tendulkar, undone by a fastish offbreak from Murali after a painstaking 126-ball knock, and he was lucky not to fall much earlier, when Sangakkara failed to latch on to a nick in the second over of the day. Neither Sourav Ganguly nor VVS Laxman succeeded in breaking the shackles – a mix-up when Laxman took off for a non-existent single and Ganguly hesitated ended their partnership – and didn’t endeavour to use their feet against the spinners. Ganguly, who was given a warm reception when he walked out to bat, managed one well-timed cover-drive but soon chipped low to point where Tillakaratne Dilshan plucked an excellent catch.Countering Murali on a sluggish surface on one’s Test debut can be a nervy prospect, but Dhoni backed himself and wasn’t afraid to loft the ball over the fielders. In 54 deliveries, he scored more fours than what both Dravid and Tendulkar had managed in 231, and made sure he wasn’t bogged down by rotating the strike.Dhoni showed that one could score runs on the track and the point was reinforced, with finesse, by Jayawardene and Sangakkara. Neither Ajit Agarkar nor Irfan Pathan managed to exert any sort of control and Sourav Ganguly, coming on in the 10th over, was singled out for punishment with 16 runs in his two overs. Jayawardene’s velvet-smooth drives came as a whiff of fresh air, after most batsmen struggled to get the ball off the square, and he showed his full repertoire in his breezy 71. He shifted to one-day mode after tea, finding the boundary with ridiculous ease and often managing to adjust in the last minute. Just when he appeared all set for a hundred, in his first match in India, he was given out when the ball appeared to have only brushed the pad.Sangakkara and Thilan Samaraweera joined the fun and it was only Anil Kumble, who was unlucky not to have more than three wickets, who asked some searching questions. He foxed Marvan Atapattu with a short one that hurried on and deceived Sangakkara with a legbreak that stayed a bit low. The rains ensured that there was no chance of a result in this game, but based purely on today’s events Dravid’s boys will know that, despite the 6-1 hammering in the one-dayers, beating Sri Lanka in Tests, especially in subcontinental conditions, is a different kettle of fish.
IndiaRahul Dravid c Sangakkara b Vaas 32 (97 for 3) Sachin Tendulkar lbw b Muralitharan 22 (108 for 4) VVS Laxman run out (Tharanga/Sangakkara) 5 (109 for 5) Sourav Ganguly c Dilshan b Fernando 5 (117 for 6) Irfan Pathan c and b Muralitharan 0 (118 for 7) Ajit Agarkar run out (Gunawardene/Sangakkara) 4 (128 for 8) Anil Kumble c and b Vaas 9 (159 for 9) Mahendra Singh Dhoni c Gunawardene b Bandara 30 (167) Sri LankaAvishka Gunawardene c Dhoni b Pathan 4 (5 for 1) Kumar Sangakkara lbw b Kumble 30 (62 for 2) Mahela Jayawardene c Gambhir b Kumble 71 (124 for 3) Marvan Atapattu b Kumble 7 (158 for 4)
Australia began the New Year with a new-look line-up, but it was a veteran and a returning legspinner who ensured that the first day ended in the old dominating fashion. As they had on Boxing Day, Pakistan stepped promisingly ahead as they were carried by Salman Butt’s first Test century, but the topple began in the third session, and Glenn McGrath and Stuart MacGill scattered seven wickets.MacGill, playing in only his ninth Test alongside Shane Warne, overshadowed the game’s greatest wicket-taker, and McGrath reminded Ricky Ponting that he was worth the wait with three. The two Big Macs dumped Pakistan from an envious 1 for 193 to a comparatively disastrous 9 for 292 before they accepted a bad-light offer with eight overs remaining.Ponting was handed five bowlers to play with in a test-tube attack as MacGill and Shane Watson replaced Michael Kasprowicz and Darren Lehmann for thisdead-rubber Test. But Ponting had too many toys in the opening sessions, and the crease was crowded with experiments. The backlog meant McGrath didn’t start his second spell until 4.07pm. He had been missed, and immediately leapt into Butt (4 for 241) before knocking back Naved-ul-Hasan (7 for 261) and Shoaib Akhtar (8 for 261) in a satisfying spell.The change in MacGill after his first wicket was extreme. Yasir Hameed welcomed him back for his first Test since Kandy last March with two fours in his first over, and after six he was leaking a run a ball. His day changed when Younis Khan drove him straight to McGrath (2 for 193), and from then on he again looked like a Test bowler with the sort of sharp spin that’s rarely spotted on a first-day pitch.Employing two slips at times and bowling in tandem with Warne after tea, MacGill watched Yousuf Youhana push a tame catch to Warne at first slip (3 for 209), forced Asim Kamal to slog to Jason Gillespie at mid-on (5 for 241), and picked up Shahid Afridi with a waist-high full-toss that flew to McGrath on thesquare-leg boundary. It was traditional legspin of big turn and the threat of wicket-taking bad balls. His fifth arrived with Danish Kaneria’s edge to Gilchrist, a fierce celebration and the knowledge that wickets in the Pura Cup do sometimes get noticed.While choosing MacGill was an instant success, judgment of the allrounder Watson, who became Australia’s 391st Test player, must wait until he hasshown both facets of his game. Pakistan made four changes – three down to injuries and illness – from Melbourne, and only Hameed provided batting value to a side that lost both previous Tests inside four days.Pakistan’s only positive after tea was Butt’s century, as they spoiled an ideal opportunity to post an intimidating first-day total. Hameed – who survived two reprieves in Gillespie’s first over when dropped by Warne and Gilchrist – and Butt upset a large home crowd expecting submission with bright and controlled resistance through a 102-run opening stand.Butt played the innings Pakistan had wanted from him all tour with a composed display when measured against those of his team-mates. The cheeky smile the moment after the ball trickled into the boundary showed the relief and joy of his maiden Test century.Unlike the rest of the order, Butt paced his innings and was rewarded for tempering his approach. Steady before lunch, he increased his tempo, first bringing up his half-century, and then his highest Test score as he sped towards three figures. At Melbourne he reached 70 as Pakistan briefly scared their rivals, and Australia were in a tight spot thanks to this talented 20-year-old. Pulling Warne to midwicket for his fifty, Butt accelerated to 82 with four boundaries, including three in an over behind point off Watson, before Warne and MacGill almost slowed him to distraction. The pair were stifling, but he managed to stay in control, although he almost departed to the ball that brought up his hundred, an ugly swipe which dropped centimetres short of the diving McGrath at deep square leg.The applause was deserved, but what Butt needed was another half-century in support. Instead he was part of the rush to the dressing-room instigated by twoAustralian bowlers desperate for recognition after waiting their turns.Peter English is Cricinfo’s Australasian editor.
Plans have been submitted for a major refurbishment to the Walker Cricket Ground in Southgate, Middlesex’s second home in recent years. The main clubhouse and neighbouring squash courts would be demolished and replaced with a purpose-built two-storey facility.”The plans are all about trying to secure the future of the ground," Chris Sexton, the Walker Ground’s administration director, told the Barnet & Potters Bar Times. "It has been here for over 150 years and we want to see it carry on. "It’s very expensive to maintain the cricket ground, so if we don’t improve facilities we may not be able to make ends meet.”Middlesex have increasingly regarded Southgate as their second home, and with fewer matches staged at Lord’s in recent seasons they have increased the numbers of games held there. Sexton would like to host even more Middlesex games.”One of the problems we have here is that although Middlesex like coming here, and enjoy the excellent pitch, the players have to sit in a tent to watch the game as we have no viewing facilities,” Sexton explained. “We have to cordon off their changing rooms from the public as well, which is not ideal for county cricket. We want them to continue to play here and this development will certainly help in that respect.”
Otago’s bold bid to defy the planning for the State Cricket Max in Auckland today came undone on the basis of one hard-hitting over from Richard Petrie in the semi-final against Wellington.Petrie hit 34 off the ninth over of the second innings, bowled by the unfortunate James McMillan.Unfortunate, because until that stage he had been one of the bowlers of the tournament. But Petrie found the Max zone twice with sixes to boost the scoring rate impressively.That left the pressure on Otago to score 123 to win in its last innings – that would have been the highest total recorded in the tournament to date.Otago captain Chris Gaffaney admitted disappointment afterwards that it had come down to one over.”We feel like we were the spare parts in this weekend and we were looking forward to upsetting their party,” he said.”Their party” being the advantage Wellington and Auckland were given when they were provided with a second life for being last year’s finalists.Otago by comparison knew that if they made the final they would have had to play four games by the end of it all.Auckland only had to play two and Wellington, by virtue of its loss yesterday to Auckland had to play three games.”It’s not easy when teams have to win all their games,” Gaffaney said. “One over made all the difference out there.””We thought throughout the weekend we had a pretty good chance. We were checking out of the hotel each morning only to keep on winning.”We thought it might have been a fairytale finish but it wasn’t to be,” he said.There were still bonuses for Otago however, as they looked towards the start of the State Championship on Monday next week.Craig Pryor had shown how much he had developed since moving to Otago from Auckland for last summer. He was a key player in Otago’s progress through the tournament and Gaffaney was delighted in his efforts.”He has blossomed as a cricket and is an interesting prospect.”Kerry Walmsley and Andrew Hore also played well for Otago, he said.The loss to Wellington this morning was based around the inability to get the tight bowling away. Hore was out for 12 and none of the other batsmen were able to find the Max zone to any significant advantage.Wellington had a five run first innings lead and Otago bowled well to restrict Wellington to 73/5 after eight overs in the second. And then Hurricane Petrie blew in with two Max sixes as part of a 34-run over haul which was backed up by another 10 runs from the last over.Petrie brought up his 50 off 17 balls and was 52 not out at the end of the innings which saw Wellington on 117/6.Hore started a one-man wrecking mission with a four and a six in Andrew Penn’s first over but was caught off the fourth ball and from that stage the 123 run target was always going to be steep.Evan Marshall took three successive fours off the ninth over but the all-important Max zone couldn’t be breached and Otago ended up 25 runs short.
ScorecardFile photo – Axar Patel scored 81 and took seven wickets in the match•ESPNcricinfo Ltd
Gujarat took seven Baroda wickets in 37.4 overs to earn a bonus point with an innings-and-46-run win on the last day in Valsad. Baroda started the day on 81 for 4 with Ambati Rayudu and Yusuf Pathan, still trailing by 172 runs, and could score only 126 more to finish the match without any points, while Gujarat got seven.Gujarat were led by offspinner Rujul Bhatt who finished with 4 for 48 after taking three wickets on the last day. While Rayudu continued to resist, the fifth-wicket stand was broken by Jasprit Bumrah who had Yusuf caught behind for 8 in the second over of the day to leave Baroda on 85 for 5. Irfan Pathan resisted for more than an hour along with Rayudu for a partnership of 41 runs but was eventually dismissed by Bhatt for 15. Rayudu also fell soon enough for 43, also to Bhatt, before Hardik Pandya counterattacked with a 51-ball 43 that featured six fours and a six.He didn’t get much support from the tail as Bhatt and Axar kept picking wickets. Pandya took the score past 200 but it wasn’t enough to make Gujarat bat again. Axar finished with 4 for 71 after taking three wickets in the first innings. ScorecardAbhishek Nayar and Vishal Dabholkar combined to pick up five wickets on the final day and earn Mumbai a first-innings lead against Uttar Pradesh as their Group B game petered out into a dull draw in Mumbai. With only first-innings points on offer going into the fourth day, Uttar Pradesh’s overnight batsmen Eklavya Dwivedi and Piyush Chawla began well in pursuit of Mumbai’s first-innings score of 610. However, Nayar had them both caught as Uttar Pradesh slipped to 416 for 7. Dabholkar then removed the tail, picking up the last three wickets for just 15 runs as the visitors were bowled out for 440.Dwivedi, promoted to open the innings after Uttar Pradesh were asked to follow on, was dismissed for the second time in the day after Dabholkar trapped him in front in the 11th over for 6. Himanshu Asnora and Umang Sharma then struck unbeaten fifties – 68 and 62 respectively – as Mumbai held on to their top position in the Group B points table. ScorecardRain finally relented after washing out the second, third and much of the fourth day’s play but left just enough time to entice Tamil Nadu to seek first-innings points by pursuing Andhra’s total of 203. The openers – B Aparajith and Abhinav Mukund – started patiently before Aparajith was caught in the sixth over. Dinesh Karthik provided the required impetus to the innings with a quickfire 29 off 23 before Prasanth Kumar ran out both Abhinav and Karthik.However, B Indrajith and R Sathish gave Tamil Nadu hope with a 55-run fifth-wicket stand in just 63 balls before Prasanth effected another run-out, effectively scuppering any chances of a lead. Tamil Nadu lost two more wickets and, with the score at 164 for 7, both teams shook hands.
Manchester United return to Premier League action at home to in-form outfit Aston Villa this afternoon, with Erik ten Hag and his charges likely to still be reeling following Thursday's second-half collapse away to Tottenham Hotspur.
Having largely been in control of proceedings heading in at the break, the momentum shifted after the interval as the north Londoners produced a spirited display despite their recent woes, with Heung-min Son sealing a point late on for new caretaker boss, Ryan Mason.
The United manager may well be regretting his substitutions in that chaotic second period as those alterations saw the visitors "relinquish control", as per club legend Rio Ferdinand, with another former Red Devils man – Owen Hargreaves – subsequently suggesting that Ten Hag will need to "address" the squad "depth" this summer, such were the woes of those who entered the fray in N17.
It was not only the substitutes who somewhat underwhelmed in midweek, however, with summer signing Antony having done 'little' in the second half, in particular, according to Manchester Evening News journalist, Samuel Luckhurst, after 'fading into the fringes of the game' – as per 90min's Sean Walsh.
That limited impact from the Brazilian – as well as the quick turnaround in this hectic fixture schedule – could spark a need to freshen up the forward line against the Villans, albeit with teen sensation Alejandro Garnacho still not yet ready to return.
With Anthony Martial also undeserving of a starting berth after looking 'off the pace' in the capital, according to Luckhurst, it could be a chance for young Facundo Pellistri to make what would be just his second start for the club.
Will Pellistri play against Villa?
It would be something of a gamble to throw the Uruguayan in against a side who have won five of their last six Premier League games, although the 5 foot 9 gem is clearly a "special talent" – as per journalist Fabrizio Romano – having showcased that quality in flashes this season.
While there have been reports that the wide man could be moved out on loan next term, in the meantime the 21-year-old could still have a part to play over the coming weeks, having previously been described as a player who can "create danger" by experienced teammate, Raphael Varane.
Man United's Facundo Pellistri
Although he has just one assist to his name in nine first-team outings to date, Pellistri has made his mark in his brief cameo appearances of late, having memorably produced a "scintillating" run – as per journalist Alex Turk – in the build-up to United's fourth goal at home to Real Betis in the Europa League last-16 last month.
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The £9m youngster was subsequently handed a first start in the second-leg meeting with the La Liga side and 'took it with both hands' – according to 90min's Jamie Spencer – having been so 'exciting to watch on the ball'.
The Montevideo native is still waiting for a consistent run in the side having thus far made just three league appearances, although today's meeting at Old Trafford could be an opportunity for Ten Hag to put his faith in the promising talent.
Matthew Hoggard demonstrated his imperturbability in the face of a bowling crisis, while Ravi Bopara rose to the occasion with both bat and – less expectedly – the new ball, as England’s cricketers turned their fortunes upside down on a frenetic second day at the Nondescripts Cricket Club in Colombo.At the tea break, England were bracing themselves for embarrassment. Their batting had imploded for 134, less than half the 298 for 9 on which their opponents had declared overnight, and to make matters worse, they had been reduced to a solitary fit fast bowler in Hoggard. With Steve Harmison already receiving treatment for a back spasm, James Anderson reported soreness in his left ankle while warming up in the innings break and took no further part in the day.And so Hoggard did what he has done so often in the course of his 64-Test career, and hoisted the entire burden of the attack onto his own perpetually stooped shoulders. First, he inflicted Upul Tharanga’s first failure in three innings by bowling him for 5, then he bagged three further wickets in four balls – Tillakaratne Dilshan edged low to Owais Shah at slip, Jehan Mubarak was trapped lbw for a second-ball duck, and Chamara Kapugedera fended his first delivery to Paul Collingwood in the gully.In between whiles, Bopara, maintaining a brisk line and length, picked up a bonus wicket as Malinda Warnapura played across the line to a straight one. Hoggard then wrapped up a fine spell by removing the attritional young keeper, Kaushal Silva, with a thin nick to the keeper, and finished with the superb figures of 9-3-25-5.Only the opener, Mahela Udawatte, showed any measure of control. He had negotiated his way to 45 from 83 deliveries before Bopara, who had earlier completed the run-out of de Silva, found the thinnest of edges through to Matt Prior. He was the eighth man out, and with Lokuarachchi in hospital, England needed just one more breakthrough to wrap up the innings, but Welegedera and Amerasinghe made it through to the close.It was entertaining cricket, but it wasn’t quite what England had had in mind when Michael Vaughan and Alastair Cook had walked out to open their innings at the start of play. This was meant to be a day in which the top-order gained valuable time in the middle ahead of next week’s first Test at Kandy. Instead Vaughan fell for a duck, losing his off stump to a beauty from the left-armer Sujeewa de Silva, to set the tone for a day of batting collapses.Ian Bell was the next to go, after a chaotic 16-ball innings in which he was dropped at slip on 1 and caught at square leg on 3 off a no-ball. de Silva made it third time lucky when he grazed the inside edge of a loose defensive stroke, before his fellow left-armer, Chanaka Welagedera, inflicted another failure on the out-of-form Kevin Pietersen. He was pinned lbw for 1.Cook looked in fluent form for his 35, until he missed a sweep at Kaushal Lokuarachchi and was given out lbw, but Owais Shah at No. 5 looked anything but. With Bopara enhancing his claims for a Test spot with every passing minute, Shah required 34 balls and more than an hour at the crease before he recorded his first run, and was eventually bowled through the gate for 26 as he drove without conviction at Ishara Amerasinghe.The pair had at least added an important 54 for the fifth wicket, but Bopara was the one to make his opportunity count. He survived one life on 17 when Lokuarachchi dropped a tough caught-and-bowled chance – so tough, in fact, that he was forced to leave the field with a broken finger. He picked off four fours in the course of his innings, including a pair of pulls off de Silva, and a half-century was there for the taking until he drove uppishly to short cover with only the tail for company.England’s tail, once again, did not cover itself in glory. Prior managed 10 from 27 balls before edging Kapugedera to first slip, while the remainder didn’t manage a single run between them. Hoggard and Anderson were both bowled for ducks, and Harmison didn’t come out to bat. The last four wickets fell for 11 runs in 20 balls and Muttiah Muralitharan will be licking his lips.
An unbeaten seventh-wicket stand of 213 between David Hemp and Saleem Mukuddem turned a likely first-innings deficit into a lead of 54 for Bermuda on the third day of their Intercontinental Cup match against Netherlands. Barring something remarkable tomorrow, this fightback all but ends Netherlands’ hopes of progressing to the final.Hemp, the current Glamorgan captain, is now plying his trade with Bermuda – the country of his birth – when his commitments allow and showed the value of having professional players in the team. He faced 231 balls, with his century coming off 158 deliveries, and struck 20 fours and six as he turned the Bermuda innings around from a rocky 219 for 6.However, Hemp would not have been able to cream the bowler without the support of Mukuddem who made his second first-class half-century. He is now just 11 short of a maiden century having faced 182 balls.The mammoth stand has ensured Bermuda are virtually safe from defeat, a prospect that was far less certain when Ryan ten Doeschate, another county professional with Essex, struck twice during the morning session. He removed Clay Smith and Steven Outerbridge, who only added 19 to his overnight 61.But Hemp, who reached as far as England A level earlier in his career, used his years of experience as the Netherlands attack was made to toil after their earlier success. If he can maintain this form Bermuda’s prospects over the coming months may not be as bleak as previously thought.