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Attendances in English domestic cricket rose by 23% last year to a record 1.5 million across the four competitions.The County Championship benefited from the biggest rise, increasing 30% from 2007 in a season that ended with Durham claiming their first title on the final day of the campaign. It was the second successive season that had seen a close finish, following the thrilling end between Sussex and Lancashire in 2007.Total attendance for the County Championship was 558,950, although that only represents an average of just over 2000 people watching each game and the numbers are based on the period since the ECB was formed in 1997.The Twenty20 Cup, which had an increased number of matches, was the most watched domestic tournament with 593,717 people turning out for the group matches, quarter-finals and finals.The Pro40, which finishes after the 2009 season, recorded a rise of 4% and the only competition to see a dip in figures was the Friends Provident Trophy which went down by 7%. That can probably been attributed to being run early in the season when the weather had an impact on a number of matches.”We are delighted to see the county game continue to grow across England and Wales,” said David Collier, the ECB chief executive. “Many counties have invested heavily in their facilities offering a vastly improved spectator experience which coupled with some thrilling cricket in 2008, ensures the fabric of our sport remains strong.”Overall, attendances at domestic and international matches rose by 10%, with 2,243,496 fans attending matches in 2008, the highest figure recorded.In the current financial climate the ECB will be watching attendance figures very carefully over the coming season, especially with the English Premier League (EPL) due to start in 2010.

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David Dawson sealed Tasmania’s six-wicket win over Queensland on the fifth ball of the fourth morning as the home side completed a fine comeback at Bellerive Oval. The Tigers were in trouble until they dismissed the Bulls for 93 in their second innings and the only local doubts came when rain arrived when they were three short of their target of 110 on Thursday afternoon.The weather on Friday was kind and Tasmania reached 4 for 111, with George Bailey on 31 and Dawson, who hit a four to cover, on 6. Tasmania moved to 18 points with the win, two behind the second-placed Bulls.

Day 3
Queensland’s strong morning turned into a horror afternoon when they were dismissed for 93, but a heavy shower late in the day delayed an almost certain defeat. Tasmania staged a fine comeback through Luke Butterworth’s five wickets and need only three runs to win on the fourth morning after moving to 4 for 107.Butterworth’s spree quickly destroyed the Bulls, who lost 6 for 11 to fall to 7 for 41 after the boost of two first-innings points. Some late contributions from Chris Hartley (14), Ryan Harris (16) and Nathan Rimmington (16) extended Tasmania’s target to 110. The Tigers lost the openers Rhett Lockyear (34) and Jonathan Wells (22) and James Hopes picked up three victims, but George Bailey (31 not out) was on the verge of sealing the success when the rain came.Tasmania resumed the third day on 8 for 186 and while Ben Hilfenhaus added 18, his dismissal, hooking Chris Swan to fine leg on 20, ended the innings at 214. Harris had picked up Gerard Denton for 14, finishing with 4 for 59, and Swan had 3 for 57.With a lead of 16, Queensland were looking for a big total, but things quickly went bad. Nick Kruger was beaten by Denton on 2 before Martin Love (7) and Ryan Broad (16) left by lunch. The situation became even worse after the break when Butterworth stepped in with a brutal spell. Butterworth captured 5 for 13 off 11.3 overs to set his side up for what should be a satisfying victory.

Fidel Edwards, the West Indies fast bowler, is eager to reach the 100-wicket landmark during the first Test against New Zealand starting in Dunedin on Thursday. Edwards has had to wait since June to get another chance at taking the five wickets he needs to reach the milestone.”It is something I have been thinking about and this Test match is a chance to get there,” Edwards said. “We have not played Test cricket since June [against Australia], so I have had to wait.”I’m a fast bowler, so I’m here bowl fast and make the batsmen uncomfortable. But I’m here to get wickets as well. My rhythm has been very good and the aim is to get wickets and make a contribution to the team. I have been trying to stay fit and stay focused on my job.”Edwards last toured New Zealand in 2006 and picked up seven wickets in two Tests including 5 for 65 in the first innings in Wellington. He said since then he had developed the ability to bowl consistently. “I had a few injuries along the way, but I’m feeling stronger. I will be looking for big performances.” Since then Edwards has taken 35 wickets at 35.65 from 11 Tests.Edwards said he would bank on swing to pick up wickets in New Zealand. “I watched the New Zealand team when they played against Australia, and I saw the Aussies getting the ball to swing and the results followed. If the conditions stay this way the ball should do quite a bit. We are here to win the series, we know the Kiwis can be a tough team, but we believe we can win.”John Dyson, the West Indies coach, said his team would use New Zealand’s recent 2-0 loss to Australia to its advantage. “You just have to look at the number of allrounders they [New Zealand] have picked to bolster their batting and that tells you that they are a bit worried about their batting,” Dyson said. He was happy with West Indies’ preparation for what he felt would be a ‘hard series’.”We expect our leading players to do their jobs, they are well known for that. What we are also looking for is for some of the lesser known players to put their hands up and say ‘count me in too’.”

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Tripura must have fancied their chances at Agartala when they set Assam 212 to win, having bowled them out for 195 the first time. But captain Rashmi Parida made amends for his duck earlier in the first innings, scoring 79 to lead the visitors to a five-wicket victory. Resuming at 96 for 5, Nishit Shetty took Tripura past the 150-run mark before falling to Ranjitkumar Mali after a well-made 55. Anand Katti added three more wickets to his kitty to finish with 4-63 as Tripura finished on 192, setting the visitors a competitive target. However, Parida’s innings, and a 91-run third-wicket stand with Jacob Martin, ended Tripura’s hopes. Jayanta Debnath’s 4-69 was not enough as Deepak Sharma (41) and Sarupam Purkayastha took Assam home.
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Himachal Pradesh bagged maximum points after thrashing Kerala inside three days in Dharamshala. Resuming at 27 for 2, they lost Antony Sebastian two runs later in a top-order collapse engineered by Vikramjeet Malik (4-17). A seventh-wicket stand of 62 between Karimuttathu Rakesh and Vinan Nair was the highest of the innings and an unbeaten 41 from captain Sony Cheruvathur was not enough to stave off the heavy defeat.
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Jharkhand made amends for following on with a strong performance by openers Subroto Ghosh and Manish Vardhan, the captain, in their second innings. While Ghosh hit a cautious 89, Vardhan provided able support with 44 but at stumps Jharkhand still trailed by 207 runs. They began the day on a miserable note, Haryana’s bowlers completed the rout by shooting them out for 113 in their first innings. Sachin Rana was the pick of the bowlers; he added two wickets on the third day to finish with 5 for 32.
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Jammu & Kashmir’s seamers swung the momentum back in favour of the visitors as they had Goa reeling at Margao. Vijay Sharma accounted for three of Goa’s top four batsmen, while Samiullah Beigh and Pranav Mahajan picked up two wickets each. Manoj Joglekar brought up his century earlier in the day as Jammu & Kashmir looked to narrow the overnight lead of 166 runs but he lacked support for his 120 and J&K failed to press home the advantage.
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Jatin Saxena and Shantanu Pitre’s defiant 70-run eighth-wicket partnership denied Bengal a lead against Madhya Pradesh in Gwalior. After Brijesh Tomar’s dismissal for 62, Saxena and Pitre (26) helped Madhya Pradesh finish with a lead of 68 runs. Ashok Dinda was the pick of the Bengal bowlers with 5 for 85. Bengal had a nightmare start with both openers, Anustup Majumdar and Shreevats Goswami, out without scoring in successive overs. However, Avik Chowdhury (45) and Wriddhiman Saha (50) steadied the innings but Bengal still have a lot of work to do to get something out of the match.
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Faiz Faizal scored an unbeaten double hundred to give Vidarbha a firm grip on the match in Delhi. Faizal and Ranjit Paradkar (58) battered the Services bowling line up, as Vidarbha declared on 346 for 5. The target of 420 was always going to be an uphill task for Services, who collapsed for 77 in the first innings. Sumit Tomar scored a fluent 63 but three wickets before stumps put Vidarbha firmly in the driver’s seat.

Glen Batticciotto is in line for his state debut after being named in Queensland’s 12-man FR Cup squad to take on New South Wales at the SCG on Wednesday. The Bulls have been boosted by the return of James Hopes, who has been missing due to a chest muscle strain.However, they decided against bringing Ashley Noffke into the side due to his ongoing back problem and instead they are hopeful he will be right for the Sheffield Shield match that begins on Friday. The fast bowler Nathan Rimmington has also returned to the squad after missing all of last season following major hip surgery.The final makeup of the team could yet change with Andrew Symonds and Shane Watson both in Australia’s squad for the first Test against New Zealand. One member of the group will likely be released on Tuesday and if it is either of the Queensland allrounders, the Bulls could rush the player into their one-day unit.Queensland’s limited-overs form has not quite matched their strong four-day performances and the batsmen Ryan Broad and Greg Moller have been left out after their most recent loss to Western Australia. That created room for the left-hand batsman Batticciotto, 27, who this season won his first state contract.Batticciotto has been a prolific scorer in Brisbane’s club competition in the past few seasons and is the reigning Peter Burge Medallist. It has been a long road to state cricket for Batticciotto, who played in Australia’s Under-19 team alongside the likes of Mitchell Johnson, Shane Watson and Michael Clarke.FR Cup squad Clinton Perren, James Hopes, Lee Carseldine, Glen Batticciotto, Nathan Reardon, Aaron Nye, Chris Simpson (capt), Chris Hartley (wk), Ryan Harris, Chris Swan, Nathan Rimmington, Ben Laughlin.

The Indian selectors have named an unchanged squad for the last two Tests against Australia. They decided to release the legspinner Amit Mishra from the NKP Salve Challenger Trophy, which is scheduled from October 23 to 26, and retain him in the Test squad. Mishra’s place in the India Blue team has been given to another Delhi legspinner Chetanya Nanda.India fielded their regular XI comprising six specialist batsmen, two fast bowlers and two spinners in first Test against Australia in Bangalore. However a shoulder injury to Anil Kumble ruled him out of the Mohali Test and gave Mishra his debut. Mishra went on to become only the sixth Indian to take a five-for on debut and has given the selectors a tough decision to make if Kumble is fit for the third Test.The decision to retain the same squad also means it is likely that Sourav Ganguly will make his final international appearance in the fourth Test in Nagpur, a match which will also be VVS Laxman’s 100th Test.

Kent 190 for 9 (Key 58, Harmison 4-72) v Durham
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In three spells from the Nackington Road End at Canterbury, Steve Harmison, who took 4 for 72, bowled with sufficient pace, rhythm and hostility to give Durham some hope that they might yet become county champions for the first time. Kent, themselves in need of points to make certain of avoiding relegation to the second division for the first time, collapsed to 190 for 9 before bad light brought about an early close.Mark Davies and the younger Harmison, Ben, took two wickets apiece in conditions which were more conducive to batting than had appeared in the first over after Durham had won the toss and decided to field. The ball swung and there was movement off the seam, but a classy batsman such as Rob Key was still able to drive off front and back foot alike.It was Harmison senior who made the difference for Durham, however. He removed Joe Denly for his third duck in succession with his third ball, which lifted and was taken by Phil Mustard. The quick out-swinger at the beginning of his third spell with which he removed Key in much the same way was the perfect delivery, taking the edge of the bat as Kent’s captain pushed forward outside off stump.This was the crucial wicket in that Key had made 58 including ten fours, each one struck off the middle of the bat, off exactly 100 balls. Harmison also had Justin Kemp lbw, shaping to play through midwicket, and Yasir Arafat was held at gully, ambitiously square cutting, which gave him his third wicket for four runs in ten balls – and 57 in Championship cricket for the season.Durham’s attack was switched around intelligently by Dale Benkenstein: Mark Davies also took a wicket in his first over when he had Geraint Jones leg before padding up to a ball too close to off stump. In addition, he dismissed Martin van Jaarsveld immediately after lunch, an attempted pull lobbying up to mid-off from a leading edge.Kent’s batting in mid-afternoon was dismal. They lost four wickets for nine runs, two of these to Ben Harmison, who had Darren Stevens lbw, padding up like Jones, and Ryan McLaren well taken by a diving Mustard. Arafat was next to go, followed by Robbie Joseph, who batted better than some of those ahead of him in the order but was also caught behind, this time off Callum Thorp. After that there would be no recovery.This was despite the fact that the pitch was sited almost on the edge of the square, the upshot of which was a short boundary in front of the Kent Academy – not that there was one over of spin bowled all day. Had James Tredwell not been dropped before he had scored, Kent would have been all out before bad light brought about an early tea interval at 3.30, and the eventual close.Briefly, Durham moved into second place in the first division table, their hopes of finishing there or still higher enhanced by events at Taunton. By the close, however, that had changed.

KL Rahul, Lungi Ngidi and Temba Bavuma were the biggest gainers in the ICC rankings following the first Test between South Africa and India in Centurion.While Rahul’s knock of 123 in the first innings – his seventh Test hundred – helped him climb 18 spots up to No. 31 among batters, Ngidi’s match haul of 8 for 102, which included figures of 6 for 71 in the first innings, pushed him 16 places up to No. 30 among bowlers. Bavuma, meanwhile, progressed 16 steps to be placed at No. 39 after scores of 52 and 39* in a losing cause.

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Also benefiting was South Africa’s left-arm seam-bowling debutant Marco Jansen, who entered the charts at No. 97 following his faul of five wickets at SuperSport Park, including 4 for 55 in the second innings.There were other notable movers in the Test rankings as well after India wrapped up a 113-run win, their first at the venue. Mohammed Shami, whose figures of 5 for 44 and 3 for 63 played a big role in the win, moved two steps up to No. 17, while Kagiso Rabada’s seven wickets in the match meant he gained one position to be No. 6 in the rankings.Jasprit Bumrah and Mayank Agarwal too managed to make a move up in their respective rankings. Bumrah entered the top ten to be ranked ninth after five wickets of his own in the match, while Agarwal’s contribution of 60 in the first innings helped him rise one place up to No. 11 in the batting charts. Ajinkya Rahane also moved two places up to No. 25 and South Africa captain Dean Elgar went up to No. 14, gaining two places after a gritty 77 in the second innings.Marnus Labuschagne continued to lead the batting rankings, while Pat Cummins remained the top-ranked bowler in the format.

Mickey Arthur has urged the Pakistan players to return to training from August 22, ahead of a full series against Sri Lanka in October. Pakistan have not played any cricket since the Champions Trophy, which they won in June, but Arthur believes four months without top-level cricket will not affect the side as they prepare for the new season. Since their return from the Champions Trophy, a few players have been on holiday while others, like captain Sarfraz Ahmed, are in the middle of county stints.”I’ve sent emails out to the players. They deserved everything they got after the Champions Trophy,” Arthur said. “It was a phenomenal achievement by all of them and I’m so proud of the way they fought back, their commitment, their work ethic – everything was outstanding, but it’s finished now, it’s gone, that’s done. We come back here for the camp from August 22.”Arthur made it clear that players will have to meet a “minimum standard” of fitness to be considered for selection. “There’s no comfort zone for anybody,” he said “The celebrations are now over, it’s now time to get back to work, get back to the hard work. We have had eight guys here over the last couple of days working extremely hard. We’re under no illusion that the Champions Trophy was just the start of the journey, we’ve got to keep pushing to keep getting better and better, and that we’ll only do with real hard work. There’s not going to be any hangover from the Champions Trophy, I can assure you that.”According to the ICC’s Future Tours Programme, Pakistan were scheduled to tour Bangladesh in August, but the tour was called off after talks between both boards failed. To counter the dry spell, the Pakistan Cricket Board has organised a conditioning camp, not just to enhance fitness levels of players but also help the team management identify players who can fill the void left by the retirements of Younis Khan and Misbah-ul-Haq.Arthur believes competition for places should spur the contenders. “We can keep Azhar Ali opening the batting or we can move him to three. If we do that, we are looking for two opening batsmen,” he said. “Shan Masood started the last Test, Ahmed Shehzad was in the West indies but didn’t play in the last Test. Sami Aslam is playing particularly well at the moment, so there’s good competition for the opening spots.”If Azhar Ali bats at three, we’ve got Asad Shafiq and Babar Azam. We took Usman Salahuddin with us to the West Indies, he impressed with the way he worked and the way he trained. His technique was good. Haris Sohail has come back really well, he offers us left-arm spin, so we are looking for a fifth bowler and he becomes an option. Basically, we’ve got strength and depth. We’ve started moving into a position where we can play players and give them extended runs because we’ve got enough pushing through in order to keep our standards high, in order to do the job that’s required.”Arthur was also forthcoming on the controversy surrounding Umar Akmal. Umar had been axed from the Champions Trophy squad after failing two fitness Tests and was also omitted from the list of central contracts. “Umar Akmal failed several fitness tests, what do you want us to do?” he asked. “I would have thought if you’ve failed one or two you would never put yourself in that position again. Well he’s had several opportunities and hasn’t passed one, so that’s up to him.”We’ve got enough in order to move on without any player that doesn’t fit into our standards and requirements. All the balls are in his court (now), I can’t stand here and say anybody is excluded from playing for Pakistan, it’s up to him. What I do know is anybody coming into the team needs to have minimum standards.”

Scorecard and ball-by-ball details2:09