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Moeen Ali played down his record-breaking 53-ball hundred as a “bit of a slog”, but said that the confidence he has gleaned in the course of a phenomenal summer in international cricket allowed him to trust his instincts and put West Indies’ bowlers to the sword in a run-laden third ODI at Bristol.After easing into his day’s work with a run-a-ball 39, Moeen let rip in the final six overs of England’s innings, crashing eight sixes and two fours in 14 deliveries, to rampage to his third ODI hundred and the fastest ever made on English soil.The performance capped a summer of rare all-round brilliance from Moeen in all formats, not least during the 3-1 Test series win over South Africa in July and August, when he became the first player in history to score 250 runs and take 25 wickets in a four-Test series.”It’s been good for my confidence,” Moeen said. “I know there will be tough times ahead, and I try not to get too over-confident, but I’ve played quite a bit for England now and the experience has allowed me stay focussed on what’s to come.”Playing in the side regularly, training with international players and playing against international players, has helped my game so much, I feel my batting and bowling is improving all the time.”As to the secrets of his phenomenal success at Bristol, Moeen said that a focus on laying the groundwork in his innings had set him up for the fireworks to come, plus a commitment to “keep his shape” in his strokes, irrespective of the adrenalin that was beginning to pump ever harder with every new blow.After a 132-run partnership for the fourth wicket between Joe Root and Ben Stokes, England had been in some strife at 217 for 6 in the 35th over when Moeen began his innings-turning stand of 117 with Chris Woakes.”I felt Rooty and Stokesy did a fantastic job for us,” he said. “I thought we were in a bit of trouble, then we lost those three wickets and we both had to rebuild a bit. But I felt like we got to a situation around 42 overs when we were in a decent position and it was time to press the button, but in the end [Woakes] was giving me one every ball because I felt like I was in the zone and everything was coming off.”While Moeen has long had a reputation as one of the most eye-catching ball-strikers in England’s team, even he had never really considered himself a six-hitter in the mould of Ben Stokes and Jos Buttler.”As a kid [sixes] were a regular thing, but only playing first-class and international cricket, I never saw myself as that sort of player,” he said. “But the ground wasn’t the biggest and I felt like they bowled a little bit in the slot. I just had a slog really, everything seemed to come off, I tried to watch the ball, keep my shape and really go for it.”Jason Holder, West Indies’ captain, was left to rue another performance in which a game had got away from them despite an often spirited display, not least from Miguel Cummins, who might not feel like celebrating his career-best figures of 3 for 82 after bearing the brunt of Moeen’s attack.”I felt we got off to a decent start,” he said. “We got wickets with the new ball, which we pride ourselves on. Things started to leak a little bit then we pulled it back with a couple of wickets. I thought Miguel was outstanding in the middle overs coming back and getting those two prize wickets. We just didn’t finish off well.”They bat deep. [Moeen] has played a special innings today. I think we didn’t execute our plans towards him and he was able to capitalise on the dimensions of the ground.”It’s a small ground and he backed himself to clear it. We didn’t field well, we were a just bit sloppy, a couple of misfields and dropped chances.”

David Miller has certainly gone the extra mile to be available for Glamorgan’s T20 Blast quarter-final against Leicestershire…actually he’s gone the extra thousands of miles.Miller, the powerful left-hander, has made an overnight journey from South Africa back to the UK so he can line up against Leicestershire on Wednesday evening.On Tuesday he was playing for South Africa A in their second four-day match against India A in Potchefstroom which is about 90 minutes from Johannesburg. Straight after the match, he went to the airport and caught a flight back to London before being driven to Wales for the crucial T20 match.Miller played in four of Glamorgan’s group matches, scoring 117 runs at a strike-rate of 150.

Scorecard File photo – Stephen Cook scored his 41st first-class hundred•AFP

Opener Stephen Cook, who had been dropped for the four-Test series in England, followed his match-winning 89 for Durham with a hundred for South Africa A in Pretoria. His 41st first-class century – 120 off 252 balls – formed the bedrock of his team’s 274 for 4 on the first day.After being left out from the senior side, Cook, 34, might have been anxious about his international future, but has now made his case for a lifeline in the home summer, which will feature 10 Tests. Aiden Markram, who is also in contention to partner Dean Elgar at the top, managed only 22. Rudi Second (32) also had a start but could not press on.David Miller, however, built his innings and added 138 for the third wicket with Cook. His 78 – including 10 fours and a six – came off only 115 balls at a strike-rate of 67.82 The stand ended when fast bowler Mohammed Siraj had Miller caught and bowled in the 84th over. Two overs later, just before stumps, left-arm spinner Shahbaz Nadeem removed Cook to bring India A somewhat closer to parity.Nadeem and Siraj were the only wicket-takers for India A.

ScorecardLast September James Hildreth broke his ankle in the early stages of an innings against Nottinghamshire. The monopedal century he then made on that lustrous day at Taunton has quite rightly passed into his county’s folklore as an example of devotion to the cause. Hildreth’s travails this season – 294 runs in 14 innings – have therefore been all the more painful to his many supporters and to a player whose loyalty to Somerset is both quiet and deep.All the greater then will have been the pleasure in the pubs of Taunton on the third evening of this game when it became known that Hildreth had returned to the pavilion at North Marine Road with 85 unbeaten runs against his name. He had made his first fifty of the season and helped build a strong position from which Somerset may yet win their first championship victory of the season.There were few of the Hildreth flourishes in his 111-ball innings and none of the dreamy cover-drives that make one wonder why the selectors have not looked more closely at him. What the 3002 spectators saw was a fine demonstration of the batsman’s craft by a player who may have thought himself deserted by the muse. There were six boundary fours but what was quite as impressive was the security of Hildreth’s defence and his determination to capitalise on the opportunity to bat against a Yorkshire attack containing only two front-line seamers.Indeed, just as the spectators in the Peasholm Park Stand applauded Hildreth’s half-century, they had probably also bemoaned their fate when Liam Plunkett left the field with a yet-to-be-diagnosed injury. Like Ryan Sidebottom, Plunkett will not bowl again in this match although he will bat if required.But this day’s cricket was not only memorable for Hildreth’s return to something like form. It also saw significant innings played by two young batsmen who probably wondered if any opportunities at all would come their way in 2017. And at the midpoint of a rather troubling summer in the West Country, it might revive the yeomen of Bicknoller and Combe Florey a little to note that both Eddie Byrom and Tim Rouse revealed a mature appreciation of their side’s needs in their contrasting contributions.James Hildreth has been stuck in a lean spell this season•Getty Images

On yet another grey day at Scarborough, one on which the monochrome sky was reflected in the subdued appreciation of Yorkshire supporters, Byrom’s 40 in 136 minutes against the new ball showed an understanding of the fundamental truth that there are times when the only purpose of facing a set of six deliveries is still to be there when the next set begins. Later in the afternoon Rouse brought up his maiden first-class half-century on his championship debut and shared an increasingly fluent partnership of 144 with Hildreth against Yorkshire bowlers who flagged a little as their workloads increased.However, any praise one accords to the Somerset freshmen should still be edged with caution. “Youth is to all the glad season of life,” wrote Thomas Carlyle, “but often only by what it hopes, not by what it attains or what it escapes.” Those stinging qualifications (or something like them) may be on Tom Abell’s mind this summer as he seeks to find some form. For those who saw Abell’s maiden century for Somerset a couple of years ago, his struggles are troubling to see and a reminder that the progression of a cricket career is rarely smooth.Byrom, of course, is only one of five young batsmen in this game who looking to make their way in professional cricket. His innings was ended by another of the quintet, Harry Brook, whose inswinging yorker defeated Byrom’s jab. And Brook’s medium-pacers were useful to Yorkshire, as was Ben Coad’s ability to concede little more than two runs an over while taking the wickets of both Marcus Trescothick, who made 27 before edging to slip, and Rouse, who played on for 69.The desire to make a career in professional cricket is also shared by Adam Hose and the slightly more experienced Tom Kohler-Cadmore and only life’s curmudgeons are not encouraged by their enthusiasm. Ambition is always a fine thing, though it comes in many forms. One recalls a college friend who was a great fan of the American soul singer, Gladys Knight, and aspired to join her backing group. While others dreamed of a career in academe or the foreign office, he wanted nothing more from life than to be a Pip. But things do not always turn out as we envisage: the friend became a Labour MP and Kohler-Cadmore has taken the midnight train to Yorkshire.The former Worcestershire batsman will probably get another opportunity to prove the wisdom of that choice when he bats on the final day of this match. Somerset, for their part, will surely seek to build on their 55-run first innings lead and extend their advantage over 300 before declaring. Then they will challenge Bresnan’s batsmen to chase a target and secure the victory they need to strengthen their championship hopes. Somerset also need a win, though, and the last day at Scarborough may be memorable for even more than the Hildreth century few would begrudge.

Travis Head will no longer be representing Yorkshire in this summer’s NatWest T20 Blast competition due to international commitments.Head has been called up by Australia A for their forthcoming tour of South Africa from mid-July to early August.The left-handed batsman has been named in both squads, and he will captain Australia A in the one-day tri series with the A sides of South Africa and India.Yorklshire are currently assessing their options in terms of an overseas replacement to join Peter Handscomb in the Yorkshire ranks.This is the second blow for a county in 24 hours: Andrew Tye, another Australian, pulled out of Gloucestershire’s NatWest Blast squad on Thursday because of a shoulder complaint.

An unbeaten first-innings century from Devon Smith, coupled with Kyle Mayers and Shane Shillingford’s resounding returns, piloted Windward Islands to an eight-wicket victory inside three days over Jamaica at the Arnos Vale Ground.Jamaica’s decision to bat received little validation from their batsmen as they were bowled out for a paltry 56 in 19.4 overs. Only two of their batsmen got into double-figures, with wicketkeeper Devon Thomas registering a top score of 15. Their undoing was spearheaded by the fast-bowling duo of Mayers (6 for 29) and Delorn Johnson (4 for 26).Windward’s reply was led by Smith’s unbeaten 253-ball 100. His second ton in three matches, and 29th overall, all but nullified opposition captain Nikita Miller’s 5 for 58 and secured a lead of 167 for his side. That began to look match-winning as soon as Mayers picked up two wickets in successive overs to reduce Jamaica to 21 for 2. Offspinner Shane Shillingford then took over, picking up his 37th first-class five-wicket haul and finishing with 7 for 91. Raul Palmer, with 46 off 128 balls, and Fabian Allen, with 77 off 95 balls, were the strongest sources of the Jamaican resistance as they were bowled out for 262.Left with a target of 96, Windward were able to win despite Smith retiring hurt and Tyrone Theophile (36) and Jerlani Robinson (19) losing their wickets.Two half-centuries and a match haul of 9 for 42 from Roshon Primus helped Trinidad and Tobago hammer Barbados by 130 runs at Kensington OvalBatting at No. 7 Primus lifted T&T from 122 for 5 to 196 in the first innings with an 80-ball 60 – his third first-class fifty. It was the only notable contribution besides a 53-run second-wicket stand between Amir Jangoo (32) and Isaiah Rajah’s (38) and at that point it seemed like Barbados had the upper hand with Kevin Stoute and Justin Greaves taking seven wickets between them.But then they slumped to 34 for 6 in their first innings with Primus doing the star turn again as he removed three of the top five batsmen for single-digit scores. Stoute (81) and Kenroy Williams (46) tried to wrest the initiative back with a 90-run stand for the seventh wicket but Primus’ returns of 4 for 21 along with Bryan Charles’ 3 for 32 bowled Barbados out for 168 and gave T&T a 28-run lead.T&T wicketkeeper Jangoo then plundered seven fours and two sixes to amass a top score of 71 off 131 balls in the second innings, while Primus chipped in with a 62-ball 51, before Greaves’ 5 for 63 ended the T&T innings at 211.Set a target of 240, Barbados plummeted from 62 for 4 to 78 for 9 within the space of eight overs, with Primus taking 5 for 21. No batsman scored more than 20 as Barbados were bowled out for 109 in 40 overs.

ScorecardFor the second time in his career, Marcus Harris scored a century in a Sheffield Shield final•Getty Images

Openers Marcus Harris and Travis Dean gave Victoria the perfect start in their push to complete a hat-trick of Sheffield Shield titles, setting up a strong first day with the bat for the Bushrangers. Harris scored his second century of the Shield season and Dean fell just short of doing the same, but their 224-run opening stand put Victoria on the path to a hefty total against South Australia.At stumps on the first day in Alice Springs, Victoria had moved along to 3 for 322, with Rob Quiney on 44 and Cameron White on 7. It brought an end to a tough day in the field for the Redbacks, who are searching for their first Shield title in more than two decades. However, they had brought some of the misery on themselves through a lacklustre fielding display, with both Harris and Dean given lives.Harris was first dropped on 54 when he edged Joe Mennie to first slip, where Daniel Worrall put down a sitter; Harris had another let-off on 59 when a drive off Chadd Sayers skewed to backward point, where Jake Lehmann dropped a harder opportunity. In between those two misses, Callum Ferguson at gully also grassed a chance to give Dean a reprieve.South Australia also missed a couple of run-out opportunities, and the Victorians made the Redbacks pay for their sloppy work, raising the second-highest opening stand of this Sheffield Shield summer. Harris brought up his hundred and in his first season for Victoria continued to build his reputation as a big-game player: in the 2014-15 final he had made 81 and 158* for Western Australia to be Man of the Match.The partnership ended only when Dean was bowled by a well-flighted delivery from Adam Zampa for 94, and Harris fell in the next over for 120 when he drove at Sayers and was caught by Mennie at gully, but Rob Quiney and Aaron Finch continued to frustrate the Redbacks with a 72-run stand that came to an end when Finch was lbw to Sayers for 38. But at stumps, Victoria remained firmly in control of the contest.