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Although the English winter is drawing in there is still plenty happening around the county circuit. During the off-season, ESPNcricinfo will keep you up to date with major developments, news and the odd quirky story

George Dobell20-Oct-2011Will Chris Gayle be adding Middlesex to his list of overseas teams?•Associated PressMiddlesex have eyes on GayleChris Gayle has been targeted by Middlesex as an overseas player ahead of the 2012 T20 season.”If you’re asking whether we would like Chris Gayle in our side then yes, of course we would,” said Middlesex’s director of cricket, Angus Fraser, “but whether we can afford him in another thing entirely.”In the past, however, Middlesex have benefited from a partnership with the MCC whereby the burden of playing the top overseas players’ wages has been shared between the two clubs. Adam Gilchrist was signed thanks to such a partnership.As things stand, however, Middlesex are likely to play only three of their five home games at Lord’s with international commitments and the Olympics limiting the ground’s availability. The club may even need to persuade the ECB to allow them to stage their first game a couple of weeks before the formal launch of next year’s event.Middlesex have already strengthened their top-order batting with the signing of Joe Denly from Kent. Fraser confirmed, however, that Andrew Strauss will not play any Twenty20 cricket in future.High-profile candidates for MCC roleSteve Elworthy, currently director of marketing and communications at the ECB, and Dave Richardson, currently the general manager of cricket at the ICC, are understood to be among the short-listed candidates for the vacant role of chief executive of the MCC. The previous CEO, Keith Bradshaw, resigned recently in order to spend more time with his family in Australia.Shanker for IPL?You might have thought we’d heard the last of Adrian Shankar. After the debacle of his brief stint at Worcestershire, most people would have slunk away and got on with their life far away from the world of cricket.But not our Adrian. He’s nothing if not determined. It now seems that Shankar has turned his attention to the IPL and has, somehow, aroused the interest of Rajasthan Royals.As a result, Royals management have made enquiries to players in England to learn more about Shankar’s background. The question they asked was: is Shankar a fantastic, untapped talent who has somehow escaped the notice of all English scouts; or is he just an audacious blagger?You can probably guess the answer they received.Moeen Ali’s England chanceIt might have been presumed that the likes of Monty Panesar, Samit Patel and Scott Borthwick were the men jostling for the second spinner spot in the England squad to the UAE (in January-February) and Sri Lanka (March-April).But Moeen Ali is also in contention. The 24-year-old Worcestershire allrounder took more wickets than any other off-spinner in Division One of the Championship in the 2011 season (albeit a modest 18 at 51 apiece) and also scored 930 runs at an average of 33.That allround ability subsequently won Moeen a place in England’s potential performance squad and, along with a few of the other batsmen and spinners in that squad, he will remain in Sri Lanka after the three-week training camp in Colombo. The players will be allocated first-class teams and benefit from playing for another seven weeks in Sri Lankan domestic cricket.The inference is that a role in the Test side – probably batting at six and fulfilling the role of second spinner – is just about within Moeen’s grasp. While there are several players ahead of him in the queue at present, most have question-marks against them; Panesar, for instance, has few pretensions as a batsman or a fielder, while Patel’s fitness remains an issue.Whatever happens, if England do need to call upon Moeen in Sri Lanka, it will surely prove beneficial that he has experience of the conditions. It’s another example of the planning and attention to detail that has characterised the England management in recent years.Financial issues for WarwickshireWarwickshire have left several clubs disgruntled by their approaches for players in recent seasons, but the boot could soon be on the other foot.The failure to land an Ashes Test in 2013 will have a large impact on the finances at Edgbaston and is likely to make recruiting – and retaining – top players increasingly difficult.In the short-term, it has done little to help them secure the signing of James Taylor. Taylor is also wanted by Nottinghamshire, who won the right to host Ashes Tests in 2013 and 2015 and, as a consequence, have the certainly of a high income for the foreseeable future.In the longer-term, attention will focus on retaining Warwickshire’s best players. Chris Woakes, for example, is out of contract at the end of the 2012 season and is certain to attract interest from a number of other counties. As a quality allrounder who might not quite make the Test team, Woakes might even be considered one of the most valuable players in the entire county game. If Warwickshire are going to keep him, they’re going to need to fund the mother of all pay rises.Kartik set for Oval moveSurrey are close to securing the singing of Murali Kartik, the left-arm spinner, as an overseas player for the 2012 season. He has previously enjoyed spells at Lancashire, Middlesex and Somerset. While it is understood that Surrey’s salary bill remains the largest in the county game, the club have not breached the salary cap of £1.8m.

Tributes for the cricket writer and former Somerset captain Peter Roebuck, who has died in South Africa, aged 55

ESPNcricinfo staff13-Nov-2011’We love an opinion, whether we agree or not. We’ve just lost a great polariser’•Getty Images”RIP Mr Roebuck. Mentor. Maestro. Mate. Thanks for your guidance and friendship. So very sad.” – Alex Brown, director of sport, Daily Telegraph and former sports editor of the Sydney Morning Herald”A magnificent analyst and writer on the game.” – Mark Scott, managing director of the Australian Broadcasting Corporation”Nobody cut to the chase more succinctly and nobody saw how the game was and where it was heading better than Peter Roebuck … [his] incisiveness and the way he delivered was the blueprint for our cricket commentary. He rang me up nearly every week for the last 10 years to talk cricket, and every time I’d put the phone down and have a deeper view of the game.” – Kerry O’Keeffe, former Australia spinner and ABC cricket commentator”We didn’t talk so much about the game, more about things around the game. Like corruption and things like Zimbabwe, which he felt pretty strongly about. I enjoyed reading his stuff, at times I read it and didn’t get the point, so he wasn’t exactly Bill O’Reilly, but he was a damn good writer, a colourful writer and he brought other things in life into it.” – Ian Chappell, former Australia captain and fellow commentator”He was brilliant in his analysis and capacity to talk about everything in cricket. One of the great strengths of having him as a broadcaster was that he covered such a range of things around the game, yet was always precise. He showed a great passion and respect for the game.” – Jim Maxwell, ABC cricket commentator”Devastated. My dear friend and one of the greatest cricket writers ever Peter Roebuck passes away. He was meant to write about cricket in the manner Sachin Tendulkar was born to play it.” – Harsha Bhogle, Indian commentator and writer”I spent much of the past 25 years sharing a press box with Peter Roebuck. Can’t believe he won’t be there this summer.” – Malcolm Conn, chief cricket writer, the “The death of Peter Roebuck leaves the grass less green and cricket without its most effective investigative journalist,” former England captain Tony Greig, on Twitter”Peter was not only an extremely gifted cricket writer for The Sydney Morning Herald and The Age, he was also one of Australia’s most popular cricket commentators for the ABC.” – Greg Hywood, CEO of Fairfax media”We are saddened and shocked at this news. Peter was one of the finest cricket writers of his generation. His reporting and commentary were always fair, balanced, and insightful.” – Peter Fray, publisher and editor-in-chief of The Sydney Morning Herald and The Sun-Herald”Pete’s reputation will grow and grow as the years pass. A cricket writer of intelligence, empathy and charm whose writing sometimes filled me with awe and always reminded me why the game should be nurtured and treasured.” – David Hopps, cricket writer at the “He bought particular insight to his commentary based on his lengthy experience as a first-class cricketer and captain, and combined that with a singular flair for the written and spoken word. He spoke his mind frankly and while one didn’t necessarily always have to agree, you always respected what he had to say.” – James Sutherland, Cricket Australia, chief executive officer”He was a fierce critic of South African cricket in the unhappy days of the rebel tours but he made a personal tour of South Africa after the completion of the unity process. My late brother, Khaya, who was in charge of the development programmes, took him on tours of the various townships and he became one of our best supporters. He personally arranged bursaries so that some of the township players emerging at that time could gain experience by playing club cricket in England.” – Gerald Majola, Cricket South Africa, chief executive officer”We express our condolences to his friends and family. We were expecting to reap the benefits of his experience in the field of cricket writing for many years.” – Paena Galane, spokesperson for Fikile Mbalula, South Africa’s sports minister”He was a fantastic writer cum commentator, one of the best in this generation. He was someone who was very opinionated, but was very independent. I looked forward to reading what he wrote about but more importantly how he wrote it. He had this incredible ability to use words to make the game of cricket and the players come alive. It was also wonderful that he loved India and coming to India.” – Rahul Dravid, India batsman”I don’t think anyone in cricket writing had a voice like Peter’s when he arrived on the scene in the early 1980s. You only have to contrast the way we wrote about cricket in the 1970s to the way we write it now – Peter has been responsible I think for a lot of those developments.” – Gideon Haigh, cricket historian and writer”Peter Roebuck was a tortured, driven soul, but his suicide still comes as a shock. Cricket has lost its most erudite idealist.” – Derek Pringle, former England cricketer and current cricket correspondent of “RIP Peter Roebuck. I didn’t agree with everything you wrote about cricket but f*** I loved the way you wrote it…” – Wil Anderson, Australian comedian”The news of Peter’s death is extremely sad. He was such a gifted man, both as a cricketer and a writer.” – Mike Brearley, former England captain”Shocked to hear the sad news from Cape Town, RIP Peter Roebuck a great cricketing mind.” – Tom Moody, former Australia allrounder”Cricket has lost one hell of an intellect and a bloke who cared deeply about the game. I always read Peter Roebuck with complete admiration.” – Lawrence Booth, editor of the Wisden Almanack”Shocking and sad news about Peter Roebuck. One of the two or three best writers on cricket in the world,” – John Stern, former editor of The Wisden Cricketer”My God. Just heard about Peter Roebuck. Loved working with him. Incisive. Erudite. Funny.” – Jonathan Agnew, BBC cricket correspondent and former England bowler”Very sad news: Peter Roebuck, former Somerset batsman and one of the finest sportswriters around, has died at the age of 55.” – Phillippe Auclair, sports journalist and author of “Peter taught me so. He took the time to share his thoughts on the game he loved so much. A wordsmith of the highest quality.” – Peter Walsh, ABC broadcaster”We love an opinion, whether we agree or not. We’ve just lost a great polariser.” – Iain O’Brien, former New Zealand bowler”Peter was caustic, opinionated, brilliant & funny, a man who could make you laugh, get pissed off or say, ‘why couldn’t I put it that way?'” – Kadambari Murali-Wade, editor-in-chief, Sports Illustrated India”Can’t believe that Peter Roebuck is no more…met him a couple of times and read him a million times. One of my favourite cricket writers. R.I.P.” – Aakash Chopra, former India batsman”Very, very depressed. A friend and one of the world’s greatest cricket writers Peter Roebuck is no more. Roebuck was a cricket intellectual. He always saw the game ‘beyond the boundary’ which made his writing so special.” – Rajdeep Sardesai, editor-in-chief, IBN network

Daniel Christian will have to put on hold his dreams of a baggy green after Australia named an unchanged side for the second Test in Hobart

Brydon Coverdale in Hobart08-Dec-2011Daniel Christian will have to put on hold his dreams of a baggy green after Australia named an unchanged side for the second Test in Hobart. Australia’s captain, Michael Clarke, confirmed on Thursday that the selectors had chosen the same XI that comfortably accounted for New Zealand at the Gabba.The Australians trained on Thursday morning and were greeted by an extremely grassy pitch, which could make batting difficult on the first day. Including Christian would have altered the balance of the team; although he is one of the Sheffield Shield’s leading run scorers this summer, it was his medium-pace bowling that could have swayed selection in his favour in the absence of Shane Watson.”There’s probably a concern there that if your frontline bowlers don’t do the job with the new ball it could be quite a long day,” Clarke said. “But I’m confident. I thought we bowled really well at the Gabba in both innings. I’m confident I can get some overs out of Michael Hussey, myself and David Warner as part-timers. I’m just going to have to make sure I rotate the bowlers the right way and hope we bowl well and field well with the new ball.”[Christian] has had a really good year in first-class cricket, especially with the bat, but we know what he can do with the ball as well. We had a long debate. We feel the team played really well in Brisbane. I’m very keen to stay consistent with a winning team for this second Test match against New Zealand.”Had Christian been included, the two possible scenarios would have been to drop one of the openers – Phillip Hughes has scored 9, 9, 88, 11, 10 and 7 from his past three Tests – and promote Usman Khawaja to open, with Christian to bat at No.6, or to leave out the offspinner Nathan Lyon on a pitch expected to offer plenty for the seamers. However, Clarke was keen to keep Lyon, Australia’s leading wicket taker in the Brisbane victory with match figures of 7 for 88.”The wicket has a lot more grass on it than I have ever seen at Hobart,” Clarke said. “It looks better today than yesterday, no doubt. But I still think there’s a lot of grass on that wicket. I’m looking forward to seeing what it’s like tomorrow morning. I think day one is going to be quite tough for the batters if it’s overcast. Then I’m hoping it will turn into a pretty good wicket. I still see Lyon playing a big part for us as our spinner, probably later in the game than on day one.”Australia 1 Phillip Hughes, 2 David Warner, 3 Usman Khawaja, 4 Ricky Ponting, 5 Michael Clarke (capt), 6 Michael Hussey, 7 Brad Haddin (wk), 8 Peter Siddle, 9 Mitchell Starc, 10 James Pattinson, 11 Nathan Lyon.

England Under-19 slumped to a heavy defeat at the hands of Bangladesh Under-19 at the Shere Bangla National Stadium in Mirpur

ESPNcricinfo staff04-Feb-2012
Scorecard
England Under-19 slumped to a heavy defeat at the hands of Bangladesh Under-19 at the Shere Bangla National Stadium in Mirpur. The 76-run loss gave the hosts a 5-2 win in the seven-match series. Al-Amin starred in an all-round effort for Bangladesh, making a half-century and picking up five wickets.After being put in to bat, Bangladesh managed a competitive 237 for 5. They had been in a slightly difficult situation at 107 for 4 but Mossadek Hossain and Al-Amin hit half-centuries and added 130 for the fifth wicket. Mossadek was unbeaten on 79 off 96 balls, hitting seven fours and a six, while Al-Amin too scored at a good clip, managing 65 off 76 before being run out. Craig Overton picked up three wickets.In their response, England were bowled out for 161 with only Daniel Bell-Drummond offering any significant resistance, making 55 off 68 balls. There was serious lack of support at the other end and Bangladesh finished the job in 41.2 overs. Al-Amin had figures of 5 for 33.

The opening batsman Phil Jaques, who played 11 Tests for Australia before a serious back injury ended his international career, will retire from first-class cricket in Australia at the end of this summer

Brydon Coverdale31-Jan-2012The opening batsman Phil Jaques, who played 11 Tests for Australia before a serious back injury ended his international career, will retire from first-class cricket in Australia at the end of this summer. Jaques, 32, will continue his career with Yorkshire, where he will be classified as a local player due to his British passport.His decision will mean the end of a career spanning 12 seasons with New South Wales, for whom he scored 5659 first-class runs at an average of 41.30. He was even more successful in Test cricket, where he made 902 runs at 47.47. Jaques scored three Test centuries, including one in his last innings for Australia, in Barbados in 2008.Jaques had been given the opening role after the retirement of Justin Langer, and he looked set for a long career in the baggy green. However, he was ruled out of the 2008 tour of India due to a long-standing back injury that required surgery, and he never quite returned to his peak form – or to the Australia side. In the past three seasons in Australia, he has averaged 35.17 in first-class cricket.”I have made this decision with my family in mind and I’m looking forward to the next chapter of my career,” Jaques said. “I’ve thoroughly enjoyed my time playing cricket for New South Wales and Australia and have always considered it a privilege. I have also made plenty of great friends along the way.”I hope to remain involved with Cricket NSW in some capacity in the future. My years playing for NSW have helped me to grow as a player and person and I appreciate all of their support I have received over the years. I walk away with no regrets knowing that I have given 100% every time I have walked onto the ground and I will continue to do this until the end of the season.”Jaques played in two successful Pura Cup finals for New South Wales, in 2004-05 and 2007-08, as well as the state’s 2005-06 one-day triumph. He scored 2340 one-day runs for the Blues at 39.66, and at one stage held the state record for the highest one-day score, with his unbeaten 171 against Queensland in February 2010.A regular in the county competition, he has spent time with Yorkshire, Worcestershire and Northamptonshire, but this will be his first season playing as a local player. Jaques was born in Wollongong in New South Wales to English parents, which allowed him to acquire a British passport.

Peter Steindl, Scotland head coach, has signed a three-year contract extension. He will now be in charge until December 2014

ESPNcricinfo staff09-Feb-2012Scotland head coach Peter Steindl has signed a three-year contract extension. He will now be in charge of the team until December 2014.Steindl’s aim will be to guide Scotland back to a major tournament. His first opportunity will be in March when Scotland will travel to the United Arab Emirates for the World Twenty20 qualifying tournament. Scotland will need to reach the final of the 16-team tournament to win a place at the World Twenty20 in September. Their last appearance at a major tournament was in the 2009 World Twenty20, where they lost to South Africa and New Zealand in the group stage.Steindl was appointed in 2008 and after the 2009 World Twenty20, when a number of senior players retired, set about rebuilding the side. He has produced a young squad with an average age of 24 and a good run of results – they have won nine of their last 13 ODIs against Associate nations and finished runners up in both the World Cricket League Division One and Intercontinental Cup.”I am delighted to be given the opportunity to continue working with the Scotland team,” Steindl said. “I have enjoyed the challenges this position has brought and I am committed to working hard to build upon the improvements we have made over the last two years.Before the World Twenty20 qualifiers get underway, Scotland play UAE in an Intercontinental Cup match and two World Cricket League matches in Sharjah. The squad will also undertake a training programme in Sri Lanka.”Continuity is vital as we look to progress with a young side that Peter has developed into a cohesive and competitive unit,” Scotland chief executive Roddy Smith said. “He has formed an excellent management team with captain Gordon Drummond and we all look forward to working together in the next few important years.”

Mahela Jayawardene said Sri Lanka had to battle against the odds to reach the CB series finals after having their captain and coach changed before the tournament

Sidharth Monga at Adelaide Oval08-Mar-2012Sri Lanka came, Sri Lanka competed, Sri Lanka injected life into the one-sided Australian summer, Sri Lanka won some hearts, but fell at the last hurdle after having restricted Australia to a below-par 231. The Man of the Series came from their side, as did the highest run-getter and highest wicket-taker. Mahela Jayawardene, the captain, admitted even he did not believe the side could fashion such a performance after the drastic changes to the setup just before the Commonwealth Bank series; but that they could not win the tournament left Jayawardene in a state of mixed emotions.”I am a hard taskmaster,” Jayawardene said. “I am quite happy and proud of the way the boys played. We were very consistent. Under pressure we have handled a lot of situations really well. Even with injuries, the guys who came in put their hands up and performed.”But we were here to get a job done, which was to win a tournament. Credit goes to the Australians because they played better cricket than us today and handled situations better. We didn’t win and because of that some of the sheen will go off the hard work we put in before.”What will rankle Sri Lanka more is that they had done well to restrict Australia, and the game was going exactly to script for them, with a target of 40 fewer than what they had smashed two nights ago at the same venue. “I thought we did really well to keep them to 230,” Jayawardene said. “They could have easily got 260. We managed to pull them back. If you had offered us a target of 230 in the morning, we would have accepted it.”The only thing we didn’t do well was have partnerships up front, which we have been consistently putting up in the entire tournament. Losing four wickets up front didn’t help the cause. When you are chasing totals, it is important to keep wickets in hand. That’s probably where we went wrong. Still, the boys fought well. Upul [Tharanga] batted really well. Thiri [Lahiru Thirimanne], [Farveez] Maharoof, and everyone got us close. There were lots of mistakes but we still came close.”This somehow has been the case for Sri Lanka in the last two World Cup finals, a World Twenty20 final, and now in Australia. Jayawardene doesn’t see a trend there. He takes heart from the fact that they are consistently making it that far. “If you take that view it can be very disappointing, in saying that we haven’t won finals. But the brighter picture is that we have been very consistent for the last 10 years or so in all big tournaments. We won the Asia Cup [in Pakistan in 2008]. Even in the last World Twenty20 we were in the semi-finals in the Caribbean. So that’s what you need from a team. Being there and thereabouts all the time, and being competitive. As long as we continue to do that we are very happy.”Jayawardene said there was nothing in particular that they were missing and that if you looked at the big picture what Sri Lanka had achieved in the CB series had been impressive given the circumstances.”It’s not that we don’t know how to win big tournaments. As a team, as a captain, I am not disappointed because when we came to Australia we were not given any chance of getting anywhere, but we showed a lot of character. In tough situations, we played some really good cricket. And it’s not easy when you have a new captain, a new coach and a new way of thinking.”Everyone responded really well. From now onwards we will try and keep building on that, and probably get all these injuries sorted out. We will work on our bench strength so we have replacements for everybody. We have to look into all those problems because we have got a lot of cricket ahead of us.”The only disappointment here has been the finals. We needed to win these big games. It would have been brilliant and all the hard work would have been worth it if we had done that.”One of the more difficult parts of adapting to the change in the Sri Lankan team would have been getting Tillakaratne Dilshan, the outgoing captain, to get into a frame of mind where he could play his best cricket. He is too good a cricketer to not make use of. Dilshan responded brilliantly with two centuries, superb fielding and tidy bowling whenever needed.”Dilly and I have a very good relationship,” Jayawardene said. “We had a good chat. He was quite happy and we had to identify a role for him in the side. He is still part of the senior group, still part of the leadership. His role is to perform freely and at the same time guide the younger guys in the side, give them the confidence.”I thought he had an outstanding tournament and will probably continue to do that. We can build a team around these leaders in the team. Kumar [Sangakkara], myself and Dilshan, we have got the responsibility to develop a team for the future.”Later this year Jayawardene, Sangakkara and Dilshan will get to play their first Test at the MCG. They have left at least some promise for those who have always been skeptical of giving Sri Lanka that opportunity. “That’s way too far away for Sri Lankan cricket [to talk about now], I can tell you that,” Jayawardene joked. “Anything can happen during that period of time. I’ve got my fingers crossed.”Edited by Dustin Silgardo

Kings XI Punjab have included the seamers Kyle Abbott and Ben Cutting to their squad for the ongoing fifth season of the IPL, as replacements for the injured duo of R Sathish and Stuart Broad

ESPNcricinfo staff14-Apr-2012Kings XI Punjab have included the seamers Kyle Abbott and Ben Cutting to their squad for the ongoing fifth season of the IPL, as replacements for the injured duo of R Sathish and Stuart Broad.Cutting, the right-arm seamer from Australia, came close to national selection last year when he was named in the Test squad to play New Zealand at the Gabba. He was the leading wicket-taker in the 2009-10 Sheffield Shield season with 46 wickets at an average of 23.91.Abbott, the right-arm seamer from South Africa, took eight wickets from ten games for the Dolphins in the MiWay T20 Challenge. He also has 85 first-class wickets.”I am excited about Kyle and Ben being a part of our squad,” said Kings XI’s bowling coach Joe Dawes. “Both these seamers are young and talented and have the right spirit to lead the team to great heights.”Broad, the England allrounder, was ruled out in order to continue his rehabilitation from injury. He sustained an injury to his right calf during England’s recent tour of Sri Lanka. Broad also missed the 2011 IPL season after sustaining a rib injury. Sathish, formerly with Mumbai Indians, is recovering from a knee injury.

Somerset will not be taking legal action against Chris Gayle for breach of contract

George Dobell04-May-2012Somerset will not be taking legal action against Chris Gayle for breach of contract. Gayle had signed to play for Somerset in this season’s FLt20 competition but, after resolving his differences with the West Indies team management, has made himself available for the limited-overs section of their tour of England.”We have taken legal advice and we have decided that it is not in the best interests of Somerset or cricket to take legal action,” Somerset’s chief executive, Guy Lavender, told ESPNcricinfo.”We wish Chris well and hope to see him back playing for the West Indies this summer.”While Somerset felt they did have strong grounds for action, they also felt the cost of proceedings – both financially and to the reputation of cricket – would outweigh any benefits. They have also acknowledged Gayle’s honesty and communication throughout.Somerset have already agreed a deal to bring in South Africa allrounder Faf du Plessis as a replacement for Gayle.

06-May-2012
ScorecardJosh Cobb’s maiden one-day century failed to prevent Leicestershire from suffering a narrow opening Clydesdale Bank 40 defeat against Lancashire at Old Trafford. The Foxes came up five runs short despite Cobb anchoring a pursuit of 297 with a belligerent 137 in a match littered with good batting and indifferent bowling and fielding.Cobb hit eight fours and six sixes in 99 balls but fell to a superb catch from Lancashire captain Steven Croft as he ran back from point, leaving the Foxes at 223 for 4 at the end of the 31st over, still needing 74 to win. Matthew Boyce scored 64 as Leicestershire, who needed 13 off the last over, finished on 291 for 7.On a good pitch, Lancashire put their Championship batting woes behind them to post 296 for 3, the club’s highest ever score in this form of the game. Croft top-scored with 82 off 71 balls, while South Africa’s Ashwell Prince added 79 off 73 and Stephen Moore a 53-ball 74.But the Lightning should have been defending a score in excess of 300 after Prince and Moore put on 135 for the first wicket inside 17 overs. Although the scoring rate was never slow, the home side could have put the game completely out of reach had they been a bit more clinical in the latter stages.Cobb had a hand in an impressive piece of Leicestershire fielding when he relayed a ball to Joseph from long-on to long-off as he was going over the rope. And he provided their magic with the bat too after being handed a life on nought when Moore dropped a simple chance at first slip off Sajid Mahmood’s first ball of the innings.Mahmood had Jacques du Toit caught behind in the third over but Cobb and Greg Smith built a platform with a second-wicket stand of 84 in 10 overs. England Lions left-arm spinner Simon Kerrigan, the game’s best bowler with 3 for 44, then removed Smith and Ramnaresh Sarwan, caught at short cover and long-on respectively, to put the hosts on top at 113 for 3 in the 18th over.But Cobb bossed a fourth-wicket stand of 110 inside 14 overs with Boyce, who was happy to accumulate at a run-a-ball. Cobb hit sixes over midwicket, long-on and straight down the ground but Leicester were left with too much to do when he fell to Naqaash Tahir.When Boyce was caught at deep mid-wicket by Croft off Mahmood in the 37th over, a task of 38 off 20 balls was just too stiff.