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The build-up to the start of the Ashes, already reaching a fevered pitch, now has its cause celebre, after several current and former England players took to Twitter to express their disgruntlement at the decision by Nottinghamshire not to let the Barmy Army trumpeter, Billy Cooper, play his instrument at Trent Bridge.The first Investec Test will begin on Wednesday but the strains of Cooper’s trumpet – playing “Jerusalem”, or the Countdown theme music during a review – will be absent. Cooper revealed on Friday that he had been refused permission to play, tweeting: “Just to clarify that Trent Bridge have said I can’t play at the 1st test. Very disappointed. ECB were supportive but it’s up to the ground.”Kevin Pietersen called it an “absolute DISGRACE” on Twitter, while former England captain Michael Vaughan encouraged his followers to tweet the hashtag #LetBillyBlowhisTrumpet in an attempt to get the decision overturned. Matt Prior and Charlotte Edwards, the England women’s captain, also voiced their support for Cooper, while the majority of fans were voting in his favour on ESPNcricinfo’s poll.Cooper, a professional musician, has become a fixture with the Barmy Army group of supporters who follow England home and away, with his well-judged interludes becoming popular with spectators. On England’s last Ashes tour of Australia, he was an audible presence at all five of the Tests and the decision to ban him four years earlier sparked similar controversy.However, a Nottinghamshire spokesman said on Saturday that there were no plans to change the county’s policy, which was in force in 2005 when England just held their nerve to beat Australia in the dramatic fourth Test. “It is not personal against him or his trumpet,” he said. “It is just a long-standing policy position. There is no chance of a change of mind.”

The Caribbean Premier League draft was held in Jamaica on June 5, with squads of 15 finalised for each of the six participating franchises.Marlon Samuels has been named a franchise player for Antigua and Barbuda, Kieron Pollard for Barbados, Sunil Narine for Guyana, Chris Gayle for Jamaica, Darren Sammy for St Lucia, and Dwayne Bravo for Trinidad & Tobago. The West Indies franchise players, who were in London because of the Champions Trophy, were tuned in online during the draft process. “I really enjoyed the entire draft process. I can’t wait for the CPL to get started, and I love my team,” Bravo said.Among the overseas players, Ricky Ponting, Steven Smith and Justin Kemp will play for Antigua and Barbuda while Shoaib Malik, Umar Akmal, and Shakib Al Hasan will play for Barbados. Mohammad Hafeez, Martin Guptill, and James Franklin will represent Guyana, and Muttiah Muralitharan, Shaun Marsh, Vernon Philander, and Jacques Rudolph have been enlisted by Jamaica. Herschelle Gibbs, Albie Morkel, and Tamim Iqbal have been signed by St Lucia, and Ross Taylor, Aaron Finch, and Kevin O’Brien will turn out for Trinidad & Tobago. Adam Gilchrist, last week, pulled out of the Caribbean Premier League due to an ankle injury.Players in the league were originally divided into three groups. Pool A featured international cricketers – 14 from West Indies and 12 from overseas. Pool B included six international and over 100 local players, a few of whom have represented West Indies. Under-23 players from across the Caribbean islands made up Pool C.A head coach, assistant coach, one West Indian and one international player, designated as ‘franchise players’ (who are among the 15 in each squad) made up the team’s selection committee, and was in charge of strategies for the draft. These franchise players were not part of the three pools and were appointed to each team by the league.Apart from the two franchise players, each team could pick four players from Pool A, seven players from Pool B and two from Pool C. Players selected from Pool C have to be under 23 years of age before September 1, 2013. However, five of the six franchises picked just three international players instead of four. Jamaica was the only one that picked four international cricketers.A total of 24 matches will be played in the competition that starts on 30 July and ends on August 24.Antigua and Barbuda: Marlon Samuels, Ricky Ponting, Kieran Powell, Johnson Charles, Kemar Roach, Steven Smith, Sheldon Cotterell, Dave Mohammed, Devon Thomas, Gavin Tonge, Justin Kemp, Rakheem Cornwall, Jahmar Hamilton, Anthony Martin, Montcin Hodge.Barbados: Kieron Pollard, Shoaib Malik, Dwayne Smith, Shakib Al Hasan, Umar Akmal, Jason Holder, Shannon Gabriel, Rayad Emrit, Ashley Nurse, Carlos Brathwaite, Jonathan Carter, Kyle Mayes, Devendra Bishoo, Kirk Edwards, Ramon Reifer.Guyana: Sunil Narine, Mohammad Hafeez, Ramnaresh Sarwan, Lendl Simmons, Denesh Ramdin, James Franklin, Christopher Barnwell, Martin Guptill, Krishmar Santokie, William Perkins, Steven Jacobs, Ronsford Beaton, Trevon Griffith, Narsingh Deonarine, Veerasammy Permaul.Jamaica: Chris Gayle, Muttiah Muralitharan, Andre Russell, Ravi Rampaul, Shaun Marsh, Vernon Philander, Danza Hyatt, Carlton Baugh, Nikita Miller, Jacques Rudolph, Chadwick Walton, Jermaine Blackwood, Akeem Dewar, Dave Bernard, Nkrumah Bonner.St. Lucia: Darren Sammy, Herschelle Gibbs, Albie Morkel, Tino Best, Tamim Iqbal, Shivnarine Chanderpaul, Shane Shillingford, Devon Smith, Andre Fletcher, Garey Mathurin, Liam Sebastien, Dalton Polius, Kavem Hodge, Kenroy Peters, Nelon Pascal.Trinidad & Tobago: Dwayne Bravo, Ross Taylor, Darren Bravo, Fidel Edwards, Aaron Finch, Samuel Badree, Kevon Cooper, Kevin O’Brien, Sulieman Benn, Adrian Barath, Delorn Johnson, Nicholas Pooran, Yannick Cariah, Miguel Cummins, Justin Guillen.

ScorecardSimon Katich has swapped Hampshire for Lancashire but continues to churn out the runs•PA Photos

In a week where aging Australian batsmen have been in the headlines, Simon Katich gave Lancashire a chance to pressure Kent at Old Trafford, in the process passing 20,000 career runs, as the home side pushed hard in the final session to build a lead of 112.For long periods of this match, the construction of the redeveloped Old Trafford pavilion has moved at a greater pace than the action in the middle. However, Lancashire have set their stall out this season to grind out large totals, regardless of how long it takes and ignoring bonus points, so to that end will be satisfied with their position.Their advantage was down largely to Katich who, given his country’s current travails, is still good enough to be in Australia’s Test team. Unlike Chris Rogers, though, there will be no twilight Ashes tour for him after he ended his first-class career in Australia two years ago. When he reached 87, ironically so as it is considered an unlucky number for Australians, he notched 20,000 first-class runs and by the close was within touching distance of his first hundred for Lancashire.”I guess it means I’m old, but also persistent,” Katich said on his milestone. “My wife has been telling me for the last six months, so I knew I was close, but that wasn’t the focus because I was a long way from it. It was a very proud moment but for me it has always been about trying to play in winning teams. Along the way I’ve been fortunate to do that and I guess that’s a by-product of scoring runs. If we win this game it will make it even more special.”Katich provided the innings with the kick it desperately needed in very similar style to the opening match against Worcestershire two weeks ago, where he partnered Ashwell Prince in a 181-run stand that took just 32 overs. This time Prince feel shortly after his half-century, but Katich dominated the final session with increasingly aggressive strokeplay in a passage of play that – in company with the lively Steven Croft – resembled the YB40, which begins next week, and was a marked contrast to anything else seen in the game. Their stand was worth 138 in 35 overs, exploiting a tiring attack, but at times during the season the acceleration will need to come sooner.”The way we’ve played in the first two games, being relentless with ball and bat, we will give ourselves the best chance to win,” Katich said. “Particularly in four-day cricket it’s so important because you can have one good day but if you don’t back it up the game can drift away from you. But if you do it consistently you more often than not crack teams. Regardless of what happens in this match, I think we are playing a good style of cricket at the moment.”Karl Brown, under some pressure early this season after a lean 2012, had laid the foundations, continuing his stubborn occupation from the previous day, firstly with nightwatchman James Anderson and then the in-form Prince. Brown rarely changed gears during his innings – his fifty came from 158 balls – although he did skip down the pitch to loft James Tredwell for a straight six.”Full marks to Karl, Jimmy and Ashwell, which certainly made our job a lot easier in that last session to wear them down then try and get the scoreboard ticking over quicker,” Katich said.Kent, however, offered a helping hand. Their fielding fell apart after lunch with three catches going down in quick succession. Brown enjoyed two of the lives, firstly on 48 when Mark Davies spilled a chance at mid-on – above his head but not difficult – then by Sam Northeast at a wide third slip on 61.Prince, too, was given a life, on 18, when he edged the luckless Matt Coles to first slip where Darren Stevens spilled the catch. It was a cold day in Manchester, but that is not unusual for county cricket in April and with a limited attack Kent’s fielders needed to offer their bowlers more support.Kent’s fourth drop of the day was the toughest opportunity, when Michael Powell couldn’t hold a swirling catch at deep-square leg when Katich had 60. By now, with the 110-over cut-off for bonus points having passed and purely a match to save, Kent’s field was becoming increasingly spread, allowing Katich and Croft to comfortably keep the scoreboard ticking.To force a result on the final day will still require an inspired spell or two. It is likely to need a burst of pacey swing from Anderson or Simon Kerrigan to find some turn to mean that the diligence of Lancashire’s batsmen does not just feature in a nondescript draw.

Laxman Sivaramakrishnan, the former India legspinner, has joined Sri Lanka’s Kumar Sangakkara as a players’ representative on the ICC cricket committee, replacing the Federation of International Cricketers’ Associations (FICA) chief executive, Tim May*. Sivaramakrishnan, currently a commentator on Indian television, is learnt to have beaten May in a fiercely contested election that saw intense lobbying by both sides.The ICC confirmed Sivaramakrishnan’s appointment in a release on Monday, saying: “Sangakkara and Sivaramakrishnan were recently elected by a vote of the 10 Test captains, and will serve on the Cricket Committee for a three-year term from 2013-15.” Former England captain Andrew Strauss has replaced Ian Bishop as ‘Past Player representative’, the release said. “Strauss is one of the two Past Player representatives (replacing Ian Bishop), while Sivaramakrishnan is one of the two Current Player representatives (replacing Tim May). The other Current Player representative is former Sri Lanka captain Kumar Sangakkara, who has been on the committee since 2007.”Based on nominations received by it, the ICC board had proposed three names – those of Sangakkara, May and Sivaramakrishnan – for the two players’ representative positions. Sangakkara, sole current player, is expected to be elected unanimously while Sivaramakrishnan is believed to have received six of the ten votes in the other slot, for former players. The representatives are elected by the captains of the ten Test-playing countries, who cast their votes in a secret online ballot.Sivaramakrishnan had been backed by the BCCI, which, ESPNcricinfo has confirmed, contacted at least one other member country “requesting” support. He is also believed to have been backed by one more country, independent of the BCCI. Incidentally, though he has been elected as a players’ representative, India has no recognised players’ association.May, the former Australia offspinner, has been the public voice of players’ concerns globally since establishing FICA in 1998. He was, however, handicapped by the fact that FICA is recognised by only five Full Members of the ICC: Australia, England, New Zealand, South Africa and West Indies, the first four of whom are understood to have supported his nomination.Apart from FICA’s limited global influence, one factor that is believed to have gone against May was his sustained criticism of the running of Twenty20 tournaments including the IPL, Sri Lankan Premier League and the Bangladesh Premier League. It is believed that this won him few friends on the Asian boards.Tony Irish, the chief executive of the South African players association, criticised the BCCI’s interventionist approach to the election process. “It’s a sad day for the governance of cricket when players aren’t allowed to freely elect their representatives,” Irish was quoted as saying. “Cricket is a global game and the decisions that are made should be global decisions for the benefit of the global game, not for the benefit of one country, whichever country that is.”However, a member of a board that voted for Sivaramakrishnan contested that view. “It is disingenuous for FICA or its supporters to protest because in an election, candidates canvas votes and FICA did the same thing on Tim May’s behalf. The fact is that May didn’t have the support of many captains and that showed in the votes. Suggestions that May had the support of nine captains to start with are completely baseless.”The ICC cricket committee is a leading decision-maker for the game’s governing body in on-field matters, including playing conditions such as the use of the DRS to review umpiring decisions. It is headed by Anil Kumble, the former Indian captain, and includes Andrew Strauss and Mark Taylor (past players), Gary Kirsten (Full Member team coach representative), David White (Member board representative), Steve Davis (umpires’ representative), Ranjan Madugalle (match referees’ representative), John Stephenson (MCC representative), David Kendix (statistician), Trent Johnston (Associate representative), Ravi Shastri (media representative) and Clare Connor (women’s representative).*06.10GMT, May 6: The article has been updated after the ICC confirmed the appointments

Ashwell Prince has accepted that his Test career has “well and truly passed” as he focuses on satisfying finale to his first-class career with Lancashire.Price believes he remains “good enough to play Test cricket” but he has not played a Test since South Africa lost to Sri Lanka in Durban in December 2011, their last defeat before they embarked upon a 15-match unbeaten run which took them to No 1 in the worldLancashire signed him as a Kolpak player in March after Cricket South Africa decided against renewing his contract, so seemingly bringing to an end a Test career which consisted of 66 Tests and 3665 runs at 41.64.”It’s not really me who has made that decision to retire from international cricket,” Prince said. It’s been almost 18 months since I last played a Test match and I think, if I’m being realistic, those days have well and truly passed.”I don’t have anything to prove to anyone back home. I still think I’m good enough to play Test cricket. My record is there and if people don’t have the belief in me anymore then there’s nothing more I can do. I’m here and I’m committed to playing for Lancashire.”Prince previously represented Lancashire as an overseas player in 2009, 2010 and last season, and so far scored over 2000 first-class runs for them at an average of 46. He began the new season with 95 against Worcestershire.”Having played here as a youngster in the leagues and being used to the surroundings I have a good relationship with the squad and outside of cricket,” he said. “I think it’s important to be in an environment that you feel comfortable in and that’s how I feel when I’m here.”At the time in my career when people started doubting my abilities, Lancashire were there to give me an opportunity. I just feel I had to pay them back with some loyalty.”I’ve got two years to run on my contract and I’m not getting any younger. I’ll be 36 next month so I’ll be 37 at the end of the contract. We’ll see how the body is after that.”

ScorecardDelhi crushed Gujarat in Visakhapatnam to enter the quarter-final of the Vijay Hazare Trophy, first rolling them for 126 and then knocking off the meagre target with over 21 overs to spare. Seamer Sumit Narwal triggered the Gujarat collapse, removing both openers after they had strung together a partnership of 40. Narwal went on to five wickets in an economical seven-over spell, and received support from new-ball bowler Parvinder Awana and Rajat Bhatia as Gujarat went on to score just 86 more runs in 25 overs after the opening stand was broken. Delhi lost opener Dhruv Shorey early in the chase, but the rest of the top order contributed cameos as they cruised home. Gautam Gambhir finished unbeaten on 44, the top-scorer in the game.
ScorecardKerala put on a dominating show with the bat, to ease past Punjab by 46 runs, and secure their place in the final four. Punjab chose to bowl, and made a decent start, reducing Kerala to 51 for 2 in the tenth over. However, one of the openers, VA Jagadeesh, hung in there and went on to make a career-best 119, that set a firm platform. Sachin Baby, batting at No. 6, launched from that platform, scoring a maiden List A century. He finished unbeaten on 104 runs from 70 balls to take Kerala to 320. For Punjab, Gurkeerat almost played a similar role to that of Jagadeesh, but was run out on 99 to dent Punjab’s chances. Their hopes took another big blow when Yuvraj Singh was out to Prasanth Parameswaran for a golden duck. Mandeep Singh kept them going with a steady 81, but they still fell well short, bowled out in the 48th over.

The pink ball will make its Bangladeshi debut when the Bangladesh Cricket League final begins on Friday. The BCB’s decision to experiment with the ball will be, quite literally, under the spotlight, as the first-class match between Central Zone and North Zone is a day-night fixture – another first for the country – at the Shere Bangla National Stadium in Mirpur.Both teams, however, have been given very little time to get acquainted with the ball, as they were each given a set of three pink balls to train with on the eve of the match.The initial report after the centre-wicket net session from both teams has been cautiously encouraging. Central Zone’s Marshall Ayub, who is the tournament’s leading run-scorer, was wary of how much the ball would swing, but said he had no trouble sighting the ball.”The ball moved sideways, so I think how much it swings tomorrow will be in the back of everyone’s mind,” Marshall said. “Everyone is talking about the pink ball in the dressing room, but I have done some catching and fielding. It seemed visible enough under artificial lights.”North Zone batsman Farhad Hossain found it quite easy to deal with the new pink ball, though he believed what happens in a competitive match will be far more important. “We played with a new ball mostly, so wear and tear wasn’t an issue,” Farhad said. “I think we have to find out what happens tomorrow when the ball gets old. So far I think it has been okay sighting the ball. I also found it easy catching the ball, even though one of the light towers wasn’t used.”It is a very different experience for us, but we want to see how it goes tomorrow. The only issue [is] it becoming discoloured [as it gets older], [which may] trouble the batsman because the ball will [need to] be changed. A newer ball under lights can swing around.”The BCB have set aside 30 balls for the five-day match as a precautionary measure, after concerns about its longevity had been raised. A domestic match in South Africa held in September last year was the last occasion when a pink ball was used in a competitive match. But concerns over its ability to hold colour, especially given how easily the sheen goes away, remained. It had to be changed roughly every 25 overs during the match The other hurdle for many of the players will be to switch between the formats in such a short space of time. The BPL final was on February 19, ending four weeks of continuous Twenty20 cricket, and three days later it is a first-class final. But Marshall said it is hardly an issue. “I think we will manage between the formats quite well.”

ScorecardEngland’s bowlers successfully defused West Indies’ explosive batting line-up to set up a six-wicket win that puts the holders through to the Super Six stage. Anya Shrubsole claimed career-best figures before opener Danielle Wyatt hit 40 and victory with 15 overs to spare had the added effect of damaging West Indies’ net run rate, which could help decide qualification from Group A.Only two West Indies batsmen got into double figures – and there were six ducks – as they limped to 101 all out. Katherine Brunt removed Kycia Knight with the second ball of the match before her new-ball partner Shrubsole struck three times. The run-out of West Indies captain Merissa Aguilleira was followed by Brunt having Deandra Dottin caught behind, leaving the innings in tatters at 31 for 6.Kyshona Knight, batting at No. 4, and Shanel Daley staved off complete disaster with a partnership of 58 but the introduction of Arran Brindle hastened the end of the innings. Brindle took 3 for 0 from two overs, having top-scorer Kyshona Knight stumped for 33, and Shrubsole returned to complete a four-wicket haul, with Daley unbeaten on 30.In reply, Wyatt and Brindle put on 66 for the first wicket, as England appeared to be cruising into the Super Sixes. Dottin took two in two balls as four wickets fell for 13 runs but Heather Knight struck three boundaries to make sure Charlotte Edwards, England’s captain who had been feeling unwell, did not have to bat. The only other flutter for England was caused by Brunt having to leave the field during West Indies’ innings with a suspected twisted ankle.Although West Indies had gone into their final group game with a healthy NRR of +1.040, it fell to +0.276 in defeat and they will have to wait on the result of India’s match with Sri Lanka to determine whether they stay in the tournament.

Dave Nosworthy, the former Lions coach in South Africa, has been named Somerset’s new director of cricket.Nosworthy, 44, who played 29 first-class games for Border and Northern Transvaal, resigned from his Lions post in June, having previously coached Titans and in New Zealand with Canterbury.He has also worked with South Africa A and the South Africa Under-19s team. He will replace Brian Rose, who stepped down at the end of the 2012 season when Somerset again failed to win a trophy, finishing second in the Championship and again suffering disappointment on FLt20 Finals Day. Nosworthy is due to take up his position in February”I am absolutely delighted to be coming to Somerset along with my family,” Nosworthy said. “The club has a proud tradition, is currently in great shape, and is clearly an exciting place to be. I personally am really looking forward to the challenges of building on the current strengths of the club, the many proud traditions, and the great work done by the many that have passed before me.Vic Marks, the chairman of the cricket committee said: “We interviewed candidates from all over the world, those with exceptional playing backgrounds and international coaching experience, but there was no doubt that Dave Nosworthy was the outstanding candidate and the panel were unanimous in their decision.”The director of cricket’s role is a very broad one requiring excellent cricketing knowledge and experience, combined with strong leadership and communication skills – Dave demonstrated all of these during the extensive selection process and he is undoubtedly the right man to take the club forward.”Nosworthy led Canterbury to the State Championship title in 2007-08 and the State Shield and T20 competition in 2005-06. While he failed to win a trophy with Lions, he did oversee their progress to two domestic T20 finals and two Champions League appearances. He has previously been on the short-list for the coaching roles of India and New Zealand.Nosworthy’s appointment follows confirmation of two overseas signings for 2013. Alvrio Petersen will join for the first part of the summer and Abdur Rehman, the Pakistan spinner, will play the latter part of the campaign.

Willie Basson, CSA’s acting president, has been convinced not to resign his post with less than a month to go before the body’s AGM. ESPNcricinfo understands Basson had already typed his resignation letter after local media alleged that he was involved in the Aparthied-era chemical warfare program, but a board member persuaded him not to step down.Vincent Sinovich, president of the Northerns Cricket Union, confirmed Basson was about to quit before the two spoke. “I begged him not to resign, and I’ve been on edge waiting to see what he would do,” Sinovich said. “He certainly was thinking very seriously about resigning.”No-one else would have achieved what he has achieved in the time he has been there. We all have a past. Whether he was involved or wasn’t involved [in the government] he doesn’t need to explain himself. It was 30 years ago.”Despite Basson’s change of heart, a source close to CSA’s board said some members will still ask Basson to resign at their meeting on Wednesday. It is at this meeting that CSA will iron out the details of the new board, which must be put in place at their AGM on February 2.The board restructure was put in place after the conclusion of the Nicholson commission – the ministerial authority set up to investigate Gerald Majola’s financial wrongdoing and CSA’s corporate governance structures. Nicholson instructed CSA to reconstitute their board to an 11-member panel (down from 22) and include five independent directors.While CSA’s nomination committee has decided on the independent component of the board, there is dispute over the chairmanship. The committee chose former CSA president Norman Arendse but the current board vetoed that decision. Arendse then took the matter to arbitration and won only to have the South African Sports Confederation and Olympic Committee (SASCOC) raise an objection to independent chairmanship. Wednesday’s board meeting will decide whether CSA will honour Nicholson or obey SASCOC.Whichever route they take, Basson will not sit on the board so his resignation does not have much effect on the presidency. However, if Basson stays on, he will continue in his role as head of the transformation committee, which the disgruntled board members are unhappy with.Their reasons for objecting with Basson continuing in a development role relate to his prior involvement with the old South African government. Although Basson has not elaborated on exactly what he did while involved in the program, his association with it is thought to contradict strongly with the values of democratic South Africa.Those members also blame him for the lack of transformation in South Africa’s Test squad, which is another item on the agenda at the Wednesday meeting. There has been talk that the board is considering legislating the number of black Africans who take the field at all levels.