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Sussex pace bowler Ollie Robinson left Middlesex facing the prospect of their heaviest County Championship defeat of the modern era after a rain-affected third day at Lord’sThe right-arm seamer tore out the heart out of the home side’s top order with figures of 4 for 23, which included a burst of 3 for 8 in 14 balls.When the weather closed in to provide temporary respite for the beleaguered Seaxes they were 61 for 4 still needing 282 to make Sussex bat again.Perhaps more pertinently, Stuart Law’s side require a further 51 to better their loss by an innings and 232 runs to Sussex at Lord’s in 2005 – their worst defeat against a county side since before the outbreak of World War II.Robinson, in his first match since injuring his shoulder against Durham in April, had taken three wickets on the first day as the Lord’s tenants were hustled out for 138. In more seamer friendly conditions he was close to unplayable second time around.The 25-year-old and his new-ball partner Mir Hamza set Middlesex openers Max Holden and Sam Robson a searching examination in the morning gloom.Both bowlers beat the bat a number of times and it was no surprise when Holden edged a ball leaving him a touch on the off-stump line to Luke Wells at fourth slip.Holden will have been left doubly frustrated by the fact just four balls later, rain and bad light intervened for the first time, driving the players off for an early lunch.The shortened first session meant Robinson had plenty of energy in reserve to take up where he left off upon the resumption and he did so to devastating effect.Moving the ball both ways off the seam, he castled Robson with one which trapped the batsman on the crease and bowled him through the gate.Home skipper Dawid Malan was then undone by one which went the other way, feathering the thinnest of edges to Chris Jordan at first slip.Worse was to come for Middlesex when Stevie Eskinazi poked tentatively at another ball on a nagging off-stump line to give Wells his second catch of the day.Nick Gubbins and James Harris staved off any further drama before the rain came again to prevent any further play.

On Gurunath MeiyappanFacing criminal charges and a judicial custody for a period of about 10 days rather shows the seriousness of the misconduct committed by him. His habit of regularly placing bets in IPL matches renders the argument of his being first offender and unblemished antecedents in previous IPL tournaments of no worth.That he lost up to Rs 60 lakhs in bets shows that he engaged himself in heavy bets. It is his bad luck that he did not make money out of these bets. Any agony suffered by him because of media coverage or any hardship that may have been caused to him is too small in comparison to the huge injury he caused to the reputation and image of the game, IPL and BCCI. If the reputation and image of the sport are lost, what remains? Being 40 years of age, he is not young but middle-aged. It is difficult to accept that he has passion for the game…The committee imposes following sanctions:

• He is declared ineligible for participation in the sport of cricket as explained in the anti-corruption code for a maximum of five years under article 2.2.1
• He is suspended for life from the activities as explained in Article 7.5 under Level 4 ( first offence ) of Article 2.4 of the Code of conduct
• He is suspended for life from being involved in any type of cricket matches under Section 6, rule 4.2(b) read with (j) of the Operational Rules.

Raj KundraAs part owner, having 11.4% of share-holding by his family and investment vehicle, and team official, Raj Kundra was required to conduct himself in comformity with the rules, regulations and codes framed by the BCCI. Being UK citizen, he had heavy responsibility on him to ensure that his acts and actions were not in conflict with the laws of a foreign country. Betting is a crime punishable under the Indian Penal Code. Besides that, it is an offence, corrupt practice under the BCCI’s rules regulations and codes. With so much of information available online, it is very difficult to accept that as a UK citizen, he believed betting to be legal in India. It is no secret that some of the players of the Rajasthan Royals of which he was the team official were found enmeshed in a web of match fixing . When a part owner (team official) indulges in corrupt practices, unsavoury individuals and bad elements become bold enough to involve vulnerable elements including players in all sorts of corruption. The findings by the Hon Supreme Court of the acts of betting have affected the image of the BCCI, IPL and the game of cricket and brought each one of them to disrepute and involvement in betting by team officials is against the spirit of the game, reflect the grave nature of misconduct he is found to be involved with.Sanctions:

• He is declared ineligible from participation in the sport of cricket as explained in Anti Corrupton Code for the maximum period of 5 years under Article 2.2.1
• He is suspended for life from activities as explained in Article 7.5 under Level 4 ( first offence ) of Article 2.4 of the Code of Conduct.
• He is suspended for life from being involved with the BCCI in any type of cricket matches under Section 6, rule 4.2(b) read with (j) of the Operational Rules.

On India Cements
Moreover, Mr Gurunath Meiyappan was in the position of owner. He is the son-in-law of Mr N Srinivasan, managing director of India Cements, which is a franchise of the team CSK, and Mr Gurunath Meiyappan was considered to be the face of the owner due to his actions. Therefore, offences of the persons who are the face representative of the owner would have to be considered as acts of the owner for the purpose of the operational rules with reference to IPL league matches and consequently the actions of such persons which bring the game, BCCI into disrepute.
Not only that no urgent action was taken by India Cements against Gurunath Meiyappan but as a matter of fact no action has been shown to have been taken against him. The order of suspension passed by the BCCI against Gurunath Meiyappan after his arrest is not an action by India Cements against its official. The plea by India Cements regarding long history to contribution of cricket and cricketers cannot be accepted in view of the fact due to the act of Gurunath Meiyappan, team official of CSK who happened to be son-in-law of Mr N Srinivasan, MD of India Cements, the then BCCI president the purity of the game has been affected and the contribution if any made by the franchise has also been wasted because millions of people, true lovers of the game feel cheated. Moreover, disrepute has been brought to cricket, BCCI and IPL to such an extent that doubts abound in the public consciousness about whether games are clean or not.
Having regard to the findings recorded by the Hon’ble Supreme Court and on taking into consideration all relevant facts and circumstances as noted and discussed above, the Committee proposes to impose sanction on India Cements Ltd (Franchisee) under Section 6,rule 4.2(c) of the Operational Rules by suspending it from the League for a period of two years. The period of suspension shall commence from the date of this order.On Jaipur IPL Cricket Private Limited
Mr Raj Kundra was indeed part owner and also team official and therefore for the purpose of operational rules with reference to IPL matches Mr Raj Kundra’s actions that brought the game, the BCCI and the IPL into disrepute have to be considered actions of the franchise. We do not think that Jaipur IPL can shirk its responsibility by terming the acts done by Mr Raj Kundra as having been done in his personal capacity. If those who indulge in corrupt practices forbidden by the rules of the game are an integral part of the franchise in view of their accreditation, part ownership, close relationship and also being team official, the argument that these acts were personal and as a consequence of them if the image of the game, the BCCI and the league got affected, the franchise cannot be held responsible does not merit acceptance. Such a technical approach is legally unsustainable because of the very nature of relationship between the franchise and the wrongdoer.The general omissions by all franchises found in the ACSU report deserve various attention by the BCCI but in so far as Jaipur IPL is concerned its omissions are grave in as much as its part owner and team official have been found to have indulged in betting and that has affected the image of the game, the BCCI and the league and brought each one of them into disrepute. Jaipur IPL claims that it is highly celebrates as nursery for players but the fact remains that three RR players were arrested and charged with spot-fixing in the 2013 IPL season. The committee can also take notice of the fact that there has been allegation of approach to one of its players for corrupt practices in 2015 IPL season as well. This shows that all is not well with Jaipur IPL in handling anti-corruption issues. It is true that Mr Raj Kundra has relinquished his shares somewhere in the month of March but it is too late. No urgent action was taken by Jaipur IPL against Raj Kundra when his acts of betting became known. Once it is accepted that cricket is greater than individuals or a body of individuals and financial loss may be caused to a few players and franchises may not be a significant consideration while taking disciplinary action or for imposition of punishment for wrongdoing.On consideration of all relevant aspects of the matter, the Committee imposes sanction on JIPL (Franchisee) under Section 6, rule 4.2(c) of the Operational Rules by suspending it from the League for a period of two years. The period of suspension shall commence from the date of this order.

ScorecardMalinda Warnapura enhanced his chances of opening in the first Test by adding a second-innings half-century to his first-innings 132 in Sri Lanka’s tour match in Guyana. Sri Lanka reached 177 for 6, with an overall lead of 421 over the Guyana President’s XI (GPS), when the captains agreed to end the match at tea on the third day.Warnapura retired out for the second time in the game and his success means he has a strong chance of partnering Michael Vandort at the top of the Test order. His 93-ball innings featured seven fours but none of the other specialist batsmen made full use of the second innings.Prasanna Jayawardene chipped in with 36 and Chaminda Vaas finished unbeaten on 40 as the legspinner Davendra Bishoo picked up three middle-order wickets. Bishoo, 22, has only one first-class match to his name, but he proved his worth with 3 for 25, including Mahela Jayawardene caught without scoring.Bishoo was the only bowler to have success in the second session after the fast bowler Jason Dawes grabbed two victims before lunch. Vandort did not have the ideal lead-up to the Test, bowled by Dawes for 1 to add to his first-innings 29.Dawes, who was a member of West Indies’ Under-19 World Cup side last month, had struggled with a leg strain in the first innings and bowled only 13 balls. However, he powered through 15 overs on the third day to finish with 2 for 36 after having Kumar Sangakkara (17) caught at sip.GPS were without their captain Patrick Browne, who was resting a sore knee, and Kemar Roach, who had an upset stomach. Rajindra Chandrika and Sharmarh Brooks shared the duties behind the stumps in Browne’s absence and Brooks even registered a stumping when Prasanna Jayawardene was caught short off Bishoo.The first Test between Sri Lanka and West Indies starts at Guyana’s Providence Stadium on Saturday. A further tour match against West Indies A follows, ahead of the second Test in Trinidad.

ScorecardIt seems curious, counterintuitive even, that on a perfect summer’s evening and with 18,000 people at Lord’s, the powers-that-be served up a used, sickly pitch not conducive to free-flowing cricket.Sure, they like televised games to be played on the more central strips. Sure, there’s a hell of a lot of cricket played at Lord’s, not least an Ashes Test in exactly a fortnight. But surely – especially with Middlesex, with many explosive batsmen suited to marmalising on flat decks, in such dire straits in the South Group – the pitch could have been better than this?Not that Sussex minded. They strolled to an under-par target with 28 balls to spare to take their place atop the South Group and give their net runrate a shot in the arm, too. They have now won four consecutive games and four consecutive away from home, too. Another insipid Middlesex performance – as grey as the pitch – leaves them firmly bottom.More eye-catching was the performance of Tymal Mills. At his best, his pace, his leftiness and his clever slower balls mean that the Mills bandwagon is never far from gaining pace even in a season when he has admitted that a congenital back condition might force him to consider a future as a T20 specialist.He was flattered a bit by his return of 4 for 22, with three caught on the fence, but he impressed nevertheless, bowling in the powerplay and at the death, picking up wickets at both ends and not leaking runs as he often does, with 14 dot balls.He took wickets with the first ball of his first two overs – Dawid Malan knocking a loosener straight to third man and Nick Compton playing on when trying to pull. His final over – the last of the innings – produced the wickets of Andy Balbirnie, caught at cow, the run out of James Franklin, then, next ball, another Kiwi, Mitchell McClenaghan.Middlesex’s captain Eoin Morgan was quick to praise Mills’s man of the match display. “The pitch was very slow which made it tough to get going. But Mills was impressive, and showed tonight he has something about him.”

‘I’m getting by – Mills

Tymal Mills marked his eye-catching night in front of the cameras by suggesting he was having to manage on his four overs a week before resting up because of a long-standing back ailment.
“I’m getting by – I’m able to be wheeled out for my four overs! I’m not going to be playing four-day cricket for the rest of this year so I put all my efforts into my one or two games a week and I look forward to it. I can give my all in these four overs and then put my feet up.
“I got a few wickets that I wouldn’t usually get – they usually go over the boundary so to get a few caught was nice. It was my night tonight. I’ve been pretty happy with how I’ve bowled all competition so to carry that on and help the team to another win is nice.
“I trust my slower ball, it’s a ball I’m happy to bowl. You can’t become too predictable because especially with that bit of extra pace that I’ve got, people try and line me up if they think I’ll bowl short so you have to mix it up and tonight that went well.”I’m getting by – I’m able to be wheeled out for my four overs! I’m not going to be playing four-day cricket for the rest of this year so I put all my efforts into my one or two games a week and I look forward to it. I can give my all in these four overs and then put my feet up.”

One senses that some of those who attend for their slice of Thursday night fun – the Tesco on nearby Circus Road around 6pm more resembles Piccadilly Circus as fans flock to pick their allotted bottle of wine or four cans of cold stuff – don’t entirely mind what happens in the middle.But there’s little doubt that when a game can’t manage a close finish (as this one most certainly couldn’t) many measure the entertainment value of a night at the white-ball stuff by the number of times the ball sails into the stands. A sorry four here said plenty.Middlesex’s innings was one of those stuttering, sluggish efforts their fans have become so accustomed to in a format that has now surely reached bête noire status. To illustrate, the ball crossed the rope as often as Middlesex batsmen did – nine.Six overs of crabby, miserly slow bowling from Mike Yardy and Matt Machan – the latter has admitted to modelling his bowling on the former in this format – proved almost impossible to off the square, with each picking up the wickets of relatively set batsmen and only twice between them being hit for more than a single run off a ball.Paul Stirling briefly gave hope of a respectable Middlesex total – they seem to rely on the impetus provided by his starts – by giving himself room and carting Mills into the Grandstand, then taking three fours from Chris Liddle’s second over, through cover, to fine-leg and over mid-off, before meekly lofting Yardy to Mills at short fine-leg.Morgan himself never got going, and fell amid an arid patch that saw Middlesex go 56 balls without a boundary. Balbirnie and Franklin added 38 to add respectability to the total, before the innings ended with that Mills-made whimper.Sussex’s chase was a far more fluent effort, but there was an air of generosity about Middlesex’s bowling, and even fielding, right from the off. With the first two balls of the innings, Ollie Raynerwas swept to the fence by Chris Nash, while the third delivery was worth two, but only because the ball went straight through Ravi Patel at point. Nash was lbw to McClenaghan’s second ball for Middlesex, struck in front.Tymal Mills’ injury fears have not undermined his threat in T20•Getty Images

Luke Wright continued his fine form in sharing 75 with Matt Machan. Both batsmen showed incredibly fast, powerful hands and disdain for meek bowling. Machan flashed his wrists to batter Harry Podmore’s first over down the ground, then over mid-off, then through midwicket for four, while Wright bunted Patel over long-off for six.Only McClenaghan threatened, and he was rewarded with both players’ wickets. For Machan it was ouch then out, wrapped behind dead in front behind the pad and limping from the field, while Wright top-edged a pull. Alas McClenaghan picked up an injury himself, with a dislocated, possibly fractured finger.Craig Cachopa – who sent consecutive Patel deliveries over midwicket for six – and George Bailey saw Sussex home. Perhaps only they will have left having felt like they had got their money’s worth.

ScorecardNazmul Hossain Shanto and Saif Hassan took Bangladesh Under-19s to victory•BCB

The Bangladesh spinners gobbled up eight wickets to bowl West Indies out for 114 and secure an eight-wicket win in the first Youth ODI in Mirpur.Left-arm spinner Saleh Ahmed Shawon took four wickets while offspinners Sanjit Saha and Saeed Sarkar took two each as West Indies were knocked over in 39.2 overs. Opener Gidron Pope made 31 off 41 balls with two fours and three sixes and Emmanuel Stewart added 30 off 66 balls, but seven of their team-mates fell for single-digits.West Indies’ hopes flickered to life when Bangladesh opener Pinak Ghosh fell in the second over to Obaid McCoy but Saif Hassan and Nazmul Hossain Shanto added 70 runs together in an unbroken third wicket stand and finished the game off in the 21st over. Saif made an unbeaten 39 off 68 balls with five fours and a six while Shanto’s 41 not out came off just 36 balls with six fours and a six.

On the eve of India’s first ODI in the bilateral series against Australia, MS Dhoni expressed concern that none of his batsmen might be able to offer any overs should any of his specialist bowlers have a day off. As it turned out, India failed to defend 309 on a flat Perth pitch, and India missed that extra bowler dearly.In fact Dhoni tried to sneak in a cheap over or two from Rohit Sharma when Australia had lost two early wickets, but the hosts went after Rohit, and also the specialist spin bowling of R Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja. The fact that the two spinners went for 129 runs in 18 overs rattled India’s captain. “You have to realise, yesterday when I spoke [about the lack of part-time bowlers] I was talking more about the fast bowlers,” Dhoni said. “If they don’t have a very good day, I will have to use the spinner. I never thought the spinners will have a very bad day and the others will have to share the responsibility.”If you see the bowling department the fast bowlers did a very good job. The spinners could have bowled a little better, in the sense that if they would have just avoided the easy boundary deliveries… If the batsman hits you over long-on and long-off, fair enough, it is always a good shot, and with a bit of risk involved. You have to make sure with the field restrictions that you don’t get hit in an area where you don’t have a fielder. That is something we will have to avoid.”You can empathise with a bit of Dhoni’s helplessness. The spinners have been his pride. He has won the Champions Trophy in England through spin. Through spin he took India to the World T20 final in Bangladesh. Through spin he won a bilateral ODI series in England in 2014. Now that the fast bowlers gave his defence of 309 a good start, Dhoni found himself unable to set fields for his spinners. What do you do when your most trusted weapons let you down?”They [Australia] played a few big shots, but other than that was the time when they rotated [the strike] really well. They were still getting six, even more than six, an over. That was an area where there was a lot of pressure on us because the spinners also went for quite a few boundaries. I felt that was a phase where we could have bowled slightly differently. Other than that the fast bowlers bowled really well.”Given India’s bowling – they conceded 438 in the last match they played – and given how much the Australian batsmen have plundered them of late, you did wonder if India were urgent enough in putting the runs on the board once they got off to a good start. The four overs immediately after the 40th brought India just 26 runs, and the fifth resulted in Virat Kohli’s wicket, only the second India had lost until then. Dhoni was asked about that period of play. He didn’t find much wrong in India’s approach, but also conceded his bowlers might have taught him a tough lesson in that regard.”You have to look at what could have been a good score,” Dhoni said. “As I said 310 was a very good score. They batted really well, still they reached it in the last over. Which means I feel if we had bowled slightly better we could have put more pressure on them. Maybe induce a few big shots early in the innings.”Always you can debate you could have played a bit more aggressive cricket at that point of time. Also you have to realise once the platform is set at that time what happens if you lose a couple of wickets? What we saw was, it was easier for the set batsmen to hit. Even for the Australian batsmen the set batsmen were hitting the big shots. More difficult for the newcomers. That is a catch-22. Yes we had wickets in hand, and could have pushed for 15-20 more runs, but also you have to look at the other side, what if we didn’t reach 310? Overall if you see maybe if we are in the same situation we may bat slightly differently. Still on this wicket, I felt 310 was a very good score.”

Shoaib Akhtar has said he had no point to prove to anybody when he went out to bowl against the Delhi Daredevils in his IPL debut for the Kolkata Knight Riders. “I just wanted to win the game,” said Shoaib, who ripped through Delhi’s batting with four wickets from three overs.With Kolkata defending a low total, Shoaib removed Virender Sehwag off the second ball of the innings, dismissed Gautam Gambhir in his next over and then took two more off successive balls in his third.Last month the Pakistan board banned Shoaib for five years on grounds of disciplinary problems but allowed him to play the IPL. He last played for Pakistan in November 2007.Shoaib said he was stressed but put everything behind him before the match. “For me, my team is the most important thing,” Shoaib said. “Kolkata is my home team. Eden Gardens is my home ground. Sharing the dressing room with Shah Rukh Khan and Sourav [Ganguly] was fantastic. They backed me. And I am really happy to perform. They put faith in me. And I am happy to deliver.”Ganguly, the Kolkata captain, acknowledge Shoaib’s performance. “He came to the country with lots [of things] happening behind him,” Ganguly said. “But he showed a lot of character.”Sehwag said it was the best Twenty20 spell he had ever seen but denied that Delhi’s batsmen fell to Shoaib’s pace.” We are used to pace,” Sehwag said. “We are all international players. I, Gautam and [Manoj] Tiwary. We batted too positively against Shoaib.”Their 23-run win keeps Kolkata at fourth place just above Delhi; their next match is against the Mumbai Indians on Friday.

Ryan Harris, South Australia’s leading Pura Cup wicket-taker in 2007-08, will play for Queensland from next season after signing a three-year deal with the Bulls. Harris’ departure from Adelaide is a blow for the Redbacks as they embark on their own recruiting drive following a disappointing summer.Harris, 28, will be a useful addition at Queensland, who already boast the Cricket Australia-contracted allrounders Ashley Noffke, James Hopes and Shane Watson. He said he was looking forward to a new phase in his career.”It was a good offer and while I’ve enjoyed my time with the Redbacks, I thought the opportunity to bowl at the Gabba over the next few years should see my career develop further,” Harris said. “I thank the SACA [South Australian Cricket Association] for their support over the past few years and wish them all the best but I’m genuinely excited about the prospects ahead with the Bulls.”Harris is currently playing county cricket in Sussex after their interest was stirred by his best Australian domestic season. He collected 37 Pura Cup wickets at 29.86 last summer and made a handy 363 runs at 24.20, and the contributions earned him a place in the Australian Cricketers’ Association Pura Cup Team of the Year.An Academy graduate in 2002, Harris was in the same group as the man who could be Queensland’s next captain, Chris Simpson. In 2006-07 the Bulls were on the wrong end of his talent when Harris struck a six from the last ball of a one-day match when the Redbacks needed five to win.Graham Dixon, the chief executive of Queensland Cricket, said Harris was the only man the Bulls would sign from interstate for 2008-09. “We had a number of good reports from our players about Ryan’s competitiveness on the field,” Dixon said. “He’s the sort of player that has more than one string to his bow and plays all three forms of the game which is important in the current environment.”The Redbacks coach Mark Sorell said the Queensland agreement would be worth more money and security for Harris, who had been on short-term contracts in the past. South Australia had tried to keep him by offering a two-year deal that could be extended to three based on performance in the first year.”I support what’s happened in the past with his performance and injury history,” Sorell said. “He performed well this last season which was outstanding and we were keen to let him know he was a part of our future. His decision was a bit of a shock. Obviously we’re extremely disappointed but we respect that decision.”

Scorecard2:41

Highlights – New South Wales v Western Australia, 1st day, Lincoln

The New South Wales top order put together a quartet of solid innings without anyone going on to a hundred in the ground-breaking Sheffield Shield match at Lincoln, near Christchurch.It was the first time in the history of the Shield that a match had been played beyond Australia’s borders, and on an evenly-grassed pitch at Bert Sutcliffe Oval the Western Australia captain Adam Voges elected to send the NSW in to bat.Ed Cowan (57) and Daniel Hughes (65) responded with a partnership that was at first considered then increasingly fluent, blunting the new ball and then adding some attractive strokes to the equation. They had added 116 and looked good for more when Cowan perished to the offbreaks of Ashton Turner.Hughes was to fall soon after, edging David Moody, who bowls seam up like his uncle Tom, through to Sam Whiteman, who was fit again after missing the Big Bash League through injury. Kurtis Patterson (75) and the captain Nic Maddinson (65) then played contrasting innings, the former’s more deliberate style offering a sound counterpoint to the latter’s aggression.They prospered for 104 runs in 24 overs, until Moody chimed in again to defeat Maddinson. The remainder of the day swung towards WA’s bowlers, as Ben Rohrer and Trent Copeland fell cheaply either side of Patterson’s exit. The Test gloveman Peter Nevill was left to hold the fort with Sean Abbott against the second new ball, with hope of building on the second morning.