Darren Gough has been named as Essex’s new vice-captain, as part of a pre-season shake-up at Chelmsford that has already resulted in Graham Gooch, the former head coach, handing over several of his day-to-day duties to the captain, Ronnie Irani, in order to take up a broader role within the club.It is just the latest step in the renaissance of Gough, who signed from Yorkshire in a high-profile move last summer. He had been widely written off at the end of last season, but bounced back with a vengeance on England’s one-day tour of South Africa last month, and is determined to play a major role in the forthcoming NatWest clashes with Australia.”I am very much looking forward to my new position of vice-captain at Essex," Gough told essexcricket.org.uk. "I had the opportunity to be captain of Yorkshire before I left, but this is a big opportunity for me now at Essex.”Coming to Essex has been a good move for me and being made vice-captain is a huge honour," he added. "I hope that my 15 years of experience in county cricket – including 10 years in international cricket – will have an influence on the rest of the squad. I have been on England’s management committee for five years and this is another big achievement in my career.”Gough takes over the role from the previous incumbent, Paul Grayson, who will instead captain the second eleven, and according to the club captain, Irani, his promotion was essential for the balance of the team.”In my new wider captaincy role it was of the utmost importance to bring in someone such as Darren Gough as vice-captain," explained Irani. "Darren is a natural leader and a top performer who is well suited to such a position at this stage in his career. He is one of the best players in the world I could have as my right-hand man.”Darren is always among the first to offer advice and possesses one of the best cricketing brains in the country.”

As revealed by Cricinfo last week, Steve Tikolo has been reinstated as Kenya’s captain six months after resigning the post and will lead Kenya in their Intercontinental Cup tie in Uganda starting on Friday.The squad, confirmed on Monday, is missing Ravi Shah, who has failed to recover from a long-standing knee injury. Also absent is allrounder Ragheb Aga, who captained the team to last year’s semi final in the United Arab Emirates. The official reason is that Aga is studying in England, but Cricinfo has been informed that he was not even contacted ahead of the side’s slection.”We are aware of him and other players like Amit Bhudia, Abeed Janmohammed, Tony Suji and the others who are all part of the Kenyan team but cannot be selected for this game for various reasons,” explained Tom Tikolo, Steve’s brother and the head of the interim selection panel. “They will definitely be considered for future matches.”Some old names were also absent. Joseph Angara, Tony Suji, Brijal Patel and Jimmy Kamande were all omitted, although Tikolo said they still featured in the plansd and had been given specific instruciitions on what part of their game to work on.Kenya squad Steve Tikolo (capt), Thomas Odoyo, Kennedy Otieno(wkt), David Obuya, Maurice Ouma, Martin Suji, Peter Ongondo, Hitesh Modi, Collins Obuya, Tanmay Mishra, Lameck Onyango, Malhar Patel, Kalpesh Patel, Nehemiah Odhiambo.

Ashley Giles returns to competitive action on Tuesday, as he continues his fitness bid ahead of the Ashes, by playing for Warwickshire’s second XI in the Second Eleven Trophy against Glamorgan at Neath.Giles has been battling to recover from a hip problem since Warwickshire’s Championship match against Sussex, at Hove on May 10, and was ruled out of the two-Test series against BangladeshA cortisone injection failed to help Giles but now he will hope to show he is making good progress towards being fit for the five Tests against Australia. If he comes through the Trophy game Giles is targeting another appearance for Warwickshire in the National League meeting with Leicestershire at Edgbaston, on Sunday.Giles told the Press Association: “The plan is to play for Warwickshire seconds at Neath and we’ll then look and see how things are.If it goes well the plan is for me to play in the one-day game against Leicestershire on Sunday.”Giles has been a key part of England’s success during the last 18 months, not only with his left-arm spin but also his punchy lower-order batting. Since the start of last summer Giles has averaged 30 with the ball and 29 with the bat. He also started this summer in fine style, taking 24 Championship wickets before suffering his injury.His comeback comes only days after the former Australia paceman Terry Alderman launched a stinging attack on Giles and described him as the weak link in England’s attack.

North Group

Derbyshire completed their second Twenty20 win of the season, as they inflicted a seven-wicket defeat on Leicestershire, the current champions. Leicestershire’s batting failed to fire, with only HD Ackerman making a significant contribution with 39. Ian Hunter took three wickets in an impressive bowling display. A brief interruption meant a Duckworth-Lewis calculation was needed and Derbyshire easily reached their 103-run target as Luke Sutton made 42 from 32 balls.Nottinghamshire completely overwhelmed Lancashire, storming to a 92-run win at Trent Bridge. Stephen Fleming made the early running with 56 from 42 balls before Chris Read, Mark Ealham and Paul Franks all made quick contributions. Franks hit three sixes from just seven balls. Lancashire’s batsmen made no sort of a start, with Graeme Swann taking three middle-order scalps.

Midlands/West/Wales Group

Gloucestershire put their recent poor form behind them with a seven-wicket win against fellow strugglers Glamorgan. They cantered home with nearly three overs to spare as Phil Weston and Craig Spearman made rapid thirties. Glamorgan’s innings struggled to gain any momentum against a disciplined attack. Carl Greenidge produced the superb figures of 3 for 15 and Martyn Ball also took three.Northamptonshire continued their good form with a 38-run win against Warwickshire. The match was reduced to 14 overs per side but Northants still managed 143 through a late blitz from Ben Phillips and rapid innings from Bilal Shafayat and David Sales. Neil Carter fell first ball for Warwickshire and Phillips completed an impressive all round display by taking 4 for 18.

South Group

Hampshire’s match against Sussex at the Rose Bowl was abandoned after steady rain arrived shortly after the toss had taken place. Sussex would have fielded first after Chris Adams put Hampshire into bat. Hampshire will be without Shane Warne for the rest of their Twenty20 campaign after he was granted a rest ahead of the Ashes, following a request from Cricket Australia to Rod Bransgrove, the Hampshire chairman.

On going past Murali as Test cricket’s highest wicket-taker
I’m obviously proud of that achievement. It’s been a few years since I made my debut against India in Sydney, and back then I was happy to get one wicket, forget 500. It’s something to tell the grandchildren.On the day’s play
We toiled hard, created a lot of chances, even took a wicket off a no-ball. I think it’s the best I’ve ever bowled in India. I troubled all their batsmen, and there were a few chances that didn’t go to hand. If I continue to bowl like that, hopefully I can play a big part in this series.On the dropped catches, and whether the conditions might have contributed
None were really easy. We’re usually renowned for turning games by taking such chances, but not one stuck today. To mention heat and humidity would be an excuse. Hopefully, this won’t happen again during the rest of the series.On Australia’s chances of winning the match
If we can make what India make in their first innings when we bat, I think it’ll be a great game. We’re going to fight back. On the prospect of Murali taking back the record
Let me just bathe in it for a while, OK [laughs]? Look, Murali will probably end up with 1000 wickets. But whether I hold the record for two weeks or a month, it can’t be taken away from me. It’s something to hang your hat on.On when he plans to call it quits
I don’t want to stop yet. The key thing is enjoyment. I’ve retired from one-day cricket, but I think I can play Tests for a while yet. You have guys like Anil Kumble, Harbhajan [Singh], Murali and Saqlain [Mushtaq] who have shown that spinner can play both forms of the game. They’ve proved that the guys who reckoned that there wasn’t even a place for spinners in first-class cricket didn’t have any idea what they were on about.On the response from his opponents and team-mates
Rahul Dravid came in and shook my hand even before he’d faced a ball. I thought that was a great moment, and it said a lot about the spirit in which this series is being played. Sehwag shook my hand too, and Kumble and Yuvraj (Singh) came in to the room later. Also John Wright. I’d like to thank all those guys.My team-mates? Well, you could see that they were really happy for me.On the extra aggression when he bowled to Sehwag
I wanted his wicket [smiles]. He was the man to get today the way he was smacking us across the park. He has an eye like a dead fish [laughs]. If you bowl anything half-loose, he’ll smack it. It’s great entertainment.He got away with a few as well. But he was just too good for us today. Hopefully in the second innings, we’ll be too good for him.On how he’s soldiered on despite several rough patches
Oh look, I’ve had some great times too. Been really lucky to do something I really enjoy – not many people get that chance. I’ve made a few bad choices, and I’ve learnt my lessons. I’m 35 years old now, got three kids. It’s great that my wife is here to see me go past the record. But if we lose this game, the world record itself will be a bit of a downer.On how he accounts for his comparatively poor record against India, given his outstanding figures against other subcontinental teams
I’ve been inconsistent against India, mainly when I’ve been over here. The first two times I came here, I was carrying injuries – the shoulder the first time and trouble with my spinning finger on the last tour. But I also think they play me really well. I just hope I can carry on like I bowled today and cause them a few more hassles.

Western Province 276 for 7 dec lead North West 98 (Coetsee 50, de Stadler 5-18, Friend 3-37) and 84 for 8 (de Stadler 3-13, Magiet 3-0) by 94 runs
ScorecardRain in the morning session on the second day at Cape Town prevented Western Province from winning within two days as North West crumbled in abject fashion, losing 18 wickets in 86 overs. Werner Coetsee saved them from total humiliation, scoring 50 out of a total of 98 in the first innings. The only other player who got into double-figures was Marc Rosenberg, who scored 20. The main destroyer was Mark de Stadler, who took a career best of 5 for 18 from 14 overs He was assisted by Quentin Friend who took 3 for 37.Following on, North West faired no better as they collapsed to 84for 8 when bad light made sure that they would have to come back the next day. de Stadler was again among the wickets taking 3 for 13, but it was Achmat Magiet, making his debut appearance, who did the star turn, bowling three overs towards the end of the day and taking three wickets without conceding a run.Gauteng 228 and 90 for 3 lead KwaZulu-Natal 274 for 5 dec (Sanders 96, Gobind 77) by 44 runs
ScorecardGauteng fought back strongly at Durban to take a lead of 44 overKwaZulu-Natal at the end of the second day of their UCB Provincial Cup encounter. Natal ended the first day in a strong position, and consolidated further on the second morning, reaching 183 without loss in the 58th over. However, they lost the impetus and ended on 274for 5 when the forced declaration came in after 93 overs. The loss of Mark Sanders for 96 and Rivash Gobind, their captain, seemed to have a huge impact on the rest of the batsmen. In 35 overs they could only manage 91 runs allowing Gauteng right back into the game. When play was called off, Gauteng had moved to 90 for 3 in their second innings, and a decisive result was very much in doubt.

Elite Group

Gautam Gambhir shrugged off his recent indifferent start to Test cricket with his 17th first-class century, a 181-ball 151, and added 199 runs for the second wicket with Abhishek Sharma (73) at the Sardar Patel stadium in Ahmedabad. Delhi ended the day on 347 for 4, 133 runs ahead of Gujarat. Gambhir smacked the bowling for 20 fours during his four-hour stay – more boundaries than the entire Gujarat team. After he and Sharma departed, Mithun Manhas and Vijay Dahiya took over the reins and frustrated the bowlers further with a stand worth 99 runs. Dahiya fell for 43 right before stumps, but Manhas remained unbeaten on 66. Parthiv Patel, playing his first Ranji game, took two catches.Murtaza Lodhgar destroyed Karnataka with a six-wicket haul, restricting them to 179 after Bengal had scored 315 in their first innings at Jadavpur University Campus in Kolkata. In the morning, Sourav Ganguly fell for 27 off 76 balls – not quite the big score he needed after a lean run at international level. Bengal folded up after he left, but Karnataka’s capitulation later, when seven wickets fell for 64 runs, was more damaging. Bengal had a ball left to play before the day ended. They were 0 for 0 at stumps.At the Karnail Singh Stadium in Delhi, Mumbai could add only 100 runs to their overnight total as Harvinder Singh struck early, removing Vinod Kambli and Romesh Powar cheaply, and added two more to his tally to end with figures of 6 for 75. Due to a solid batting effort by the lower order, Mumbai rallied to 361, and then had Railways in immediate trouble. Ajit Agarkar removed both openers with 53 on the board, and Nilesh Kulkarni dismissed Siddharth Verma a little later. Railways ended the day at 111 for 3, still 250 runs behind.At the Chidambaram Stadium, Hyderabad recovered to 163 all out from their overnight precarious position of 83 for 5, only to see Tamil Nadu go to 183 by the end of the day at. Sadagoppan Ramesh, who had hoped for a Test recall, was dismissed for 29, But Sivaramakrishnan Vidyut (97 not out) and Subramaniam Badrinath, on 56, were still at the crease. It rounded up a good day for Tamil Nadu, after Ramakrishnan Ramkumar eked out three more batsmen with his left-arm spin to end with 6 for 57 in 31 overs.Venugopal Rao (140) added to his overnight hundred and, along with Khatib Sahabuddin (86), took Andhra Pradesh to 361 in Indore. Narendra Hirwani claimed 4 for 89 before his team responded with 155 for 4, built on the back of fifties from Naman Ojha (61) and Amay Khurasiya (50).At Mohali, Punjab fought back from a precarious position at 43 for 3, and recovered to score 221 for 7 when stumps were called on the second day. They trailed Uttar Pradesh by 48 runs, and had a good chance of taking the first-innings lead while Pankaj Dharmani (83 not out) was at the crease. Yuvraj Singh scored a quick 52, laced with eight fours, and fell when Punjab had 114 runs on the board. Earlier, Gagandeep Singh dismissed the last two Uttar Pradesh batsmen to claim 5 for 68, his ninth five-wicket haul.Assam, in Guwahati, scored 273 as Sukhvinder Singh scored 48 while his lower-order mates played out deliveries. He then took a wicket, Kiran Powar’s (43), as Baroda made their way to 162 for 4. Jacob Martin was unbeaten on 58.

Trevor Hohns, Australia’s chairman of selectors, is targeting to 2007 World Cup as a major milestone as they rebuild following their Ashes defeat. Hohns is in Pakistan with Australia A to spot future Australian players and said: “I suppose winning the 2007 World Cup is a challenge now.””Australia won the last two [World] Cups, so it would be nice to win three in a row and we consider the timing is right now for us to start juggling our side and that [is what] we will be doing,” he added.Australia last week dropped Damien Martyn, Jason Gillespie and Michael Kasprowicz from the Test squad for next month’s Super Series against the World XI. Gillespie, Kasprowicz and opener Matthew Hayden were also dropped from the one-day side as Australia start rebuilding for the World Cup. But Hohns denied that Australia were on the road to decline.”I don’t agree. We have been beaten by England, who are a very, very good side which Pakistan will see very soon,” said Hohns, referring to England’s tour of Pakistan starting next month.”The future of Australian cricket is very strong. We may not win all the time; sooner or later you had to lose because others have been trying to come up to the Australian level and, maybe, some of them have reached that mark.”Hohns highlighted the lack of runs made by Australia’s batsmen as a key factor in losing the Ashes, and concedes they “may have been a little under-prepared.” But their bowling and catching were also not of the high standard they had come to expect.”The bowling lacked something and we also dropped catches,” he added. “It was unlike the Australia side which has performed so well for many, many years.”Hohns said Australia have quality back-up players but replacing greats like Glenn McGrath and Shane Warne would be tough. “No doubt that we have quality players to fill in, but filling in the shoes of McGrath and Warne may be a little difficult. They are two of the all-time great bowlers in one side and we need to restructure to make up.”

The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) has decided to send Shabbir Ahmed to Australia to evaluate his action before seeking a final clearance from the International Cricket Council (ICC).Shabbir was reported for the third time in his career in May against the West Indies and has not bowled in a representative match since then. After an initial delay when the PCB considered whether or not to send him abroad for remedial action, it was decided that Bob Woolmer, the Pakistan coach, would work with him in Lahore.Woolmer has since reported an improvement in Shabbir’s action, telling the PCB recently that it now falls within the specified ICC regulations. But the PCB is keen to test his action one final time, before going to the ICC.PCB official Abbas Zaidi told Reuters, “We have decided to send him to Australia to work with experts. We will decide on the dates soon.”Zaidi added, “Woolmer has worked on his action and there is improvement but before seeking final clearance for his action from the ICC he will go to Australia.”Shabbir has been an integral part of the Pakistan team since being recalled in 2003, more than three years after making his debut. He was reported for the first time after his debut against the West Indies and then reported again in New Zealand in January 2004.Pakistani officials are eager to get the 29-year-old’s bowling action cleared before the vital home series against England in November.

Former Zimbabwe captain Stuart Carlisle has joined the long list of those driven into retirement by infighting inside the country’s cricket community.”I have now officially retired from the game,” he told reporters in Harare. “I was fed up by what is happening and I just walked away. I’m tired of the politics. I’d rather be away from them.”Phil Simmons is dead right. We can’t be having people who do not know which side of the bat is up at the helm of cricket. As for the players, it’s not their fault. You cannot expect them to perform when all this is happening around them. I feel sorry for the younger players, they have nothing else to do outside cricket. They’ll rather stay put under the prevailing condition and still have their cars and fuel coupons.”We have just lost to Kenya and there is a danger of losing our Test status if we keep on losing.” His retirement follows that of Craig Wishart last month.Carlisle, 33, played the last of his 33 Tests against New Zealand in August, exactly a decade after his ODI and Test debuts against Pakistan. He scored 1615 runs at 26.91, including two hundreds, and also played 111 ODIs, making 2740 runs at 27.67.He said he will look back on his career with mainly happy memories. “We definitely had some good times, as an individual and with the team. I’m proud to be the only Zimbabwean to score an ODI and Test hundred against Australia, and my three ODI hundreds have been very special.”Carlisle has gone into business, but says he feel he still have something to contribute to cricket. “There are senior guys like me around. We do not have to play. We can coach and do other stuff. A lot of guys want to do that. But we can’t do that under the present set-up.”