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Australia’s team doctor Peter Brukner believes cricket will eventually follow Australia’s football codes and introduce a system in which players leave the field for concussion assessment after blows to the head. The assessment process was the subject of attention on day two in Christchurch, when Steven Smith was struck on the helmet by a bouncer from New Zealand fast bowler Neil Wagner.Smith fell to the ground before getting to his feet again, and Brukner and Australia’s physio David Beakley ran onto the field to assess whether he needed any treatment. After spending roughly five minutes on the field, Brukner saw no signs of concussion and decided that Smith could continue his innings, but he said further testing had been undertaken later that day and the next morning.”There are things we look for, how well orientated they are, how alert they are, and there’s standard questions that you always ask automatically,” Brukner said after day four at Hagley Oval. “We took him through those. He answered all those questions perfectly. He seemed quite alert. We kept talking to him in that five minutes and by the end of that five minutes I was comfortable that there was nothing too serious going on.”The incident occurred in the last over before tea and Brukner also spent time with Smith during the tea break, as well as using a computerised concussion test called Cogstate after stumps that day. A test of cognitive function that assesses a wide range of areas including reaction times, Cogstate was again used to assess Smith before play on the third morning.”We have baseline measures for all the players in the Australian squad. We did that again on that night, and we were able to compare that with his baseline. And there was no difference between what he did on Sunday night and the baseline. And he was feeling okay. I repeated that test on Monday morning, just because sometimes they have a delayed response and deteriorate overnight. Once again he felt okay and the test was okay.”Smith was also assessed at other breaks in play, and showed no signs of concussion. Brukner said that while there were “grey areas” in determining concussion, if he had any doubts he would not hesitate to rule a player out, as he did when Chris Rogers missed two Tests in the West Indies last year following a blow to the helmet at training, and he also took Rogers from the field following a blow during the Lord’s Test.”There are some very clear-cut concussions, they’re knocked out and talking gibberish and so on, there are others who are absolutely fine. And there’s a grey area,” Brukner said. “I accept it’s a difficult … we would love a test to say yes that’s a concussion, that’s not a concussion. But we’ve got our symptoms, we’ve got our questions, we’ve got our computer tests, that’s our package at the moment. That’s what we go on.”Unlike cricketers, AFL and NRL footballers who suffer blows to the head are taken from the field for a 20-minute period to be assessed and reduce the risk of further blows in case of a delayed concussion reaction. Brukner said he expected that cricket would eventually follow the football codes and introduce such a system.”There’s a lot of things on the table at the moment about concussion subs and all that sort of stuff,” he said. “It’s complicated. I think the football codes feel that 20 minutes is about right. It would be nice to take someone off for 20 minutes. I think ultimately something will come in on those lines. I think it’s got to, these days.”The climate is out there and cricket will do it … After that five minutes out there, if I’d had doubts, I’d have said come off – you can have a replacement, it’s not as if you can’t bat again – come off and we’ll do a more thorough assessment. There was no indication to me out there that that was required. The next stage is to take them off and fully assess them. But he seemed fine to me, so I felt comfortable to keep him out there.”

England fast bowler Mark Wood has said he does not want to be rested during the Investec Ashes despite concerns about how his body will cope with the demands of a five-Test series. Wood has made a good impression as England’s third seamer in his four Test appearances but picked up 1 for 131 at Lord’s amid worries that he struggles with back-to-back matches.Wood has had to deal with side and ankle injuries in recent times and has rarely played consecutive first-class fixtures for Durham. He admitted his pace was down during the second Test against Australia and said that was “something I’m going to have to address” but, after a rest period back home in the North East, he was bullish about being involved at Edgbaston and Trent Bridge, when there will again be a three-day turnaround.”I definitely don’t want to miss games for England,” he said. “We’ve had a little bit of rest time going into Edgbaston, then we’ve got Trent Bridge where famously I have played more first-class games than anywhere else, and done well there. I wouldn’t want to miss either of these two games.

England will bounce Rogers

Mark Wood said that England’s attack would continue to use the short ball against Chris Rogers if the Australia opener was passed fit to play in the third Test, starting at Edgbaston on Wednesday.
Rogers was hit on the head by James Anderson at Lord’s and has continued to receive treatment after suffering a dizzy spell during the second innings, which required him to retire hurt. Australia said he had suffered “damage to the vestibular apparatus” near his right ear, rather than a concussion.
While there was concern among the England players when Rogers went down on the fourth morning, Wood said that aggressive bowling was “part and parcel of the game”.
“It’s never great when you see someone get hit or go down,” he said. “You might have the intent or aggression to hit people but when they do get hit it’s not really that nice, especially when he had a dizzy spell.
“If he declares himself fit for the next game, that will not deter me from bowling a bouncer though. I’m sure the rest of our lads will be the same – if he declares himself fit then he’s fit. You don’t want to see someone have a dizzy spell, I wish him all the best, hope he’s all right. But if he’s fit then he’s fit, so it’ll be just the same as normal.”

“We have got some good fast-bowling stocks and say the next fast bowler was to come in and take five wickets then I am out of the team and can’t get back in, then being rested looks pretty stupid. I don’t want to miss games.”Wood has to ice his ankle at the end of a day in the field and also uses heat patches for muscular pain relief – as well as the usual physio rub downs – but said that the coach, Trevor Bayliss, had not yet suggested the option of sitting out a Test.”They have asked me how my body is and how I feel, without saying you’re going to be rested,” Wood said. “They’ve mentioned that my pace was down. At times when it is a flat pitch and people get in, you don’t want to concede runs so you might bowl within yourself. I wasn’t consciously down on pace, maybe it was tough on my body. There is only one way I am going to get better and that is by playing back-to-back Tests. I wouldn’t want to give anyone else an opportunity – I want to cement that spot.”At the age of 25, Wood has only played 28 first-class games – three of which have been at Trent Bridge, second only to his home ground at Chester-le-Street – and never more than eight out of 16 in a Championship season for Durham. He has had a good run in 2015, however, playing in all but one fixture on the Lions trip to South Africa at the start of the year, before touring the Caribbean with England and then making his international debuts in all three formats at the start of the summer.His ability to bowl consistently above 90mph risks being compromised by the demanding workload of international cricket, something England appeared to acknowledge when resting Wood for the first two ODIs against New Zealand following the Test series. Steven Finn is also in the 13-man squad for Edgbaston, where England could also consider playing Adil Rashid as a second spinner, but Wood is relishing the prospect of another Ashes double-header.”It’s tough. The intensity of things is different but it’s something I feel I can handle,” he said. “The New Zealand Tests were the same, back-to-back. I’ve been on Lions tours as well where there have been back-to-back games and I never missed a game. It’s obviously different to Ashes cricket but I did it.”My pace was down, which is something I’m going to have to address. But I’ve only played four Tests now and I’d say the more I play the better I’ll get. I’m still relatively new and will take time to get used to back-to-back Tests. For me the positive at the minute is I’ve managed to come from the end of last season when I needed an operation and it was doom and gloom body wise to now having been available for selection throughout the summer and before in the West Indies.”The 405-run defeat at Lord’s, which levelled the series at 1-1, left England with more issues to ponder than whether to rest a fast bowler. Wood said Bayliss wanted England’s players to focus on their own game, rather than what Australia might do to them, as they attempt to regroup and win the third Test of an Ashes series for the first time since Headingley 1981.”It was quiet,” Wood said of the atmosphere in the dressing room. “There was disappointment after the game and then Trevor spoke well – he is very clear-cut in what he says. He spends more time in the background, in the shadows, and then when he speaks everyone listens. At the end of the game he said that basically it wasn’t good enough, we’ve got to show more fight and forget about what’s gone.”We knew Australia were going to come back hard at us and he said maybe we thought about Australia too much in that second game. Whereas the first game in Cardiff we concentrated on ourselves more and I think that’s what we’ve got to do against them in Birmingham.”

Scorecard and ball-by-ball detailsFile photo – Ekta Bisht led a solid bowling performance for India•West Indies Cricket Board

India Women’s spinners stifled the Sri Lanka Women batting, squeezing them to 89 for 9 in their 20 overs, before the top three knocked off the target in 13.5 overs to complete a nine-wicket thumping in the third T20I in Ranchi. The win secured a 3-0 series sweep for India.Left-arm spinner Ekta Bisht was the standout bowler for India, claiming 3 for 17 in her four overs, while offspinners Anuja Patil and Deepti Sharma took 3 for 30 in eight overs between them. In a good team effort, all of India’s bowlers except Poonam Yadav kept their economy rates below 5.After opting to bat, Sri Lanka got off to a poor start, losing Oshadi Ranasinghe fourth ball, before captain Shashikala Siriwardene was run out four balls later. A 33-run partnership between Nipuni Hansika and Chamari Atapattu provided Sri Lanka respite, but it was brief – when Bisht had Hansika stumped off the first ball of the tenth over, it opened a passage of play in which five wickets fell for 11 runs in 5.3 overs.An eighth-wicket partnership of 39 off 29 balls between Eshani Lokusuriyage and Ama Kanchana then steered the tourists to their final total of 89 for 9.India made light work of the chase, as openers Vellaswamy Vanitha and Smriti Mandhana put on 64 in 8.4 overs. Vanitha’s dismissal was Sri Lanka’s only success with the ball; Veda Krishnamurthy joined Mandhana to knock off the remaining 26 runs with 37 balls to spare.

Allan Donald is set to be appointed Australia’s bowling coach for their tour of Sri Lanka which begins in July this year. It is believed that Donald’s yet-to-be-announced deal with Cricket Australia is open-ended, meaning he may very well be able to earn a more permanent role in Australia’s set-up.Donald will have a powerful motivation to make the most of his imminent appointment, winning a chance to prove wrong the South African set-up that denied him a contract extension. If he is retained beyond the Sri Lanka tour, he could find himself helping the likes of Josh Hazlewood, Mitchell Starc and Peter Siddle to topple South Africa when they visit Australia for a Test series in November.The parting of ways between Donald and South Africa in 2015 had been described as mutual, but ESPNcricinfo understands that the team’s former spearhead had actually wanted to continue in the role he held from 2011. Currently working with Royal Challengers Bangalore in the IPL, Donald recently withdrew from the running for a franchise role with Knights, a South Africa domestic franchise.While Australia coach Darren Lehmann has stated that his former team-mate Jason Gillespie is under consideration for the role in the longer term, Donald has the opportunity to show his wares on a tour in which the team will aim not only to defeat Sri Lanka but also to start thinking about the intimidating task of facing up to India on the subcontinent in early 2017.Donald, who had an outstanding Test record in India – 17 wickets at 16.11 in four matches – could perhaps be well suited to such a challenge. He also picked up 12 wickets at 19.33 in his three Tests in Sri Lanka. South Africa’s success in that part of the world during Donald’s playing days was based on harnessing a strong, disciplined pace attack with some assistance from spin.At the time of his departure from South Africa following the 2015 World Cup, Donald spoke glowingly of the bowlers he had worked with. “I always wanted to give myself the chance of working up until the World Cup,” Donald had said. “I really felt now was a good time to get out and get on with it and that’s that. It’s been four awesome years and I will miss the guys big time.”The appointment will make Donald the first South African to join Australia’s coaching staff since the dismissal of Mickey Arthur at the outset of the 2013 Ashes tour of England. His replacement Lehmann emphasised a decidedly “Australian” brand of cricket, but there is now acknowledgement at CA that a different tactical and mental approach may be required to succeed in Asia.Donald has been in contention to be Australia’s bowling coach before, when in 2011 he was interviewed for the role that ultimately went to Craig McDermott. An advantage McDermott had at the time was the chance to try out for the job on a brief ODI tour of Bangladesh following that year’s World Cup. Donald now has a similar opportunity.

The PCB is considering the prospect of adding another team to the Pakistan Super League with the possibility of the sixth team being named Kashmir, after the territory of Pakistan-administered Kashmir in Pakistan. The move looks unlikely, however, for different reasons: opposition from some of the current franchises on financial grounds and the potential for controversy given Kashmir’s sensitive status vis-a-vis India.The current structure of the PSL comprises five teams whose names are derived from provincial capitals – Lahore, Karachi, Islamabad, Quetta and Peshawar. According to a contract signed between the PCB and the franchises, the number of teams cannot be increased until the third edition.Sethi had tweeted last month: “My dream is to launch 6th Kashmir team in PSL this year. Hope our five franchisee partners will support me in this initiative.” Peshawar Zalmi team owner Javed Afridi supported Sethi’s initiative but the other teams were not as enthused. Sethi said Kashmir, Faisalabad, Sialkot and Gilgit-Baltistan were in the fray for the potential team.”We will not have [a new team] until the third year that is written,” Sethi confirmed in an exclusive interview with ESPNcricinfo. “But at the same time we are looking at the financials about the addition of a sixth team, in terms of whether it will be Kashmir, Faisalabad, Sialkot or Gilgit-Baltistan or any other team. That decision is pending. We have to weigh up the pros and cons and that’s the issue right now but we cannot have it until franchises agree. Without their consent we can’t make it.”The opposition from the franchises is centered around the potential cut in their share from the central revenue pool. After the inaugural edition of the PSL, 70% of the revenue was split equally among the five franchises and the percentage would have been higher had the tournament been held in Pakistan instead of the UAE. Sethi said he was trying to convince teams that the addition of a sixth side would benefit them.”Of course we have to offer guarantee to the teams that they will be better by having a sixth team and have to convince them. I have my team working on different values and estimated profits and revenues before pitching this idea to them but this idea is definitely under consideration. Basically the advice from our finance department is that this is the high time to add sixth team as the values are very high at this stage before the second edition. We have to cash in the hype we have created from the first edition and this may or may go down next year.”The PCB regulates the franchises and manages the day-to day-cash flow, bearing the cost of logistics and payment to foreign and local players to avoid any dispute. Sethi confirmed the spending cap of each franchise, currently placed at US$1.2m, has been increased by 10% for the second season.Najam Sethi confirmed the possibility of creating a sixth team to boost the league’s valuation•AFP

In a recent PCB meeting, Sethi, who is also head of the central executive committee, made a bid to register PSL as an independent entity, primarily to cut down on hefty taxes paid by the Pakistan board and the franchises. Sethi took up the case with the finance ministry, but the negotiations fell through; the only concession was the overseas players getting a tax-free salary.”The idea is to make it a non-profit, registering it as separate company, to allow PCB to re-invest the net profits into development of cricket,” Sethi said. “Right now it is still in the pipeline and may not be an easy task. Although we sought seed money from the PCB budget for the first edition, we will have our own budgets from next year. We thought it will be a PCB-owned company but absolutely independent, and whatever money PSL makes it will go down into development which will be exempted from tax.”According to Sethi the first edition of the league generated $11.4million in revenue which is 30% higher in value than the estimated $8.02million. He admitted direct and operational expenditures had increased from $7.71million to $8.93million but PCB still manage to produce an estimated profit of $2.47million. The tournament operations were started with approximately $3-4m of seed money from the PCB’s budget and more income was generated after selling the five teams for $9.3 million.”We have beaten our own expectations and the asset value of each team has increased drastically,” Sethi said. “Teams aren’t really making profit right now from the market and they need time to make themselves a proper brand but their asset value has gone up significantly. If anyone of the team want to sell their team they can get hike of one million in their original price, which is a welcoming sign. They incurred some loses and we have covered it up from our own PCB’s central pool and gave them $400,000 each apart from the 70% of our revenues from broadcaster, gate money, title sponsorship etc.”Sharing key figures from the financial report, Sethi said: “We sold franchises in $9.3million with the first year and revenue from other means was $2.11million for the first edition. We spent $1.22million extra from our estimated budget $7.71m; the expenditures were $4.71m in direct and $4.22m in operational cost which is mainly because of the high value of renting the stadium in UAE which cost us $3.27m (Dubai and Sharjah).”The PCB is also mooting workshops to give franchises an understanding on how to leverage their business further and explore different revenue streams at a time when they are yet to break even. “Teams should be profitable by the third year,” he said. “We have been insisting that merchandising is a key revenue stream for them. That is directly linked to the marketability of the franchise and so far Peshawar is the only team that has done fairly well in this regard. We also need them to step up and market themselves better.”

The BCCI will only use electronic methods to distribute funds to all state associations in the wake of the economic wing of the Goa Police arresting three top-ranking officials of the Goa Cricket Association (GCA), including its president Chetan Desai, for alleged fraud.Desai, along with secretary Vinod Phadke and treasurer Akbar Mulla, allegedly opened a fake bank account in the name of the GCA and encashed a cheque from the BCCI worth INR 3.13 crore in 2006-07. In an effort to prevent such instances, the Indian board has added additional security measures before funds are released to any state association.”All transfers will only be electronic. No cheques will be given,” BCCI secretary Ajay Shirke told ESPNcricinfo. “In future all payments from BCCI to state associations will be made to a designated account. That account will have to be confirmed by the current secretary and treasurer of the association. It would have to be counter verified by the bank where the account has been opened. And the statutory auditor of the state association will have to issue a certificate saying it is the actual operative account of the state association.”Desai and Phadke, in addition to their posts in the GCA, are also part of BCCI sub-committees. Desai is chairman of the board’s marketing committee while Phadke is on the information technology and data management panel. Shirke said the BCCI’s decision on Desai and the GCA’s future would be made public by Friday evening.The GCA issue has come at a time when the BCCI’s governance structure and accountability processes have come under fire. The Lodha Committee, appointed by the Supreme Court to look into changing the way the board functions, had offered its recommendations in January and the court has been insisting the BCCI implement them. It is likely the GCA issue will crop up when the hearing resumes on June 30.The alleged fraud by Desai and his aides had already been revealed to the court by Hemant Angle, a former Goa cricketer and GCA life member, in his intervention application in the Lodha Committee hearing.

Olly Stone, one of England’s most promising pace bowlers, has made an ever-more unfortunate entry in the ranks of cricket’s oddest injuries. He is now expected miss the rest of the season after damaging an anterior cruciate ligament during a wicket-taking celebration.Stone, 22, fell awkwardly after leaping skywards in delight at having Moeen Ali caught behind in Northamptonshire’s NatWest Blast tie against Worcestershire at Northampton on Friday. After falling, he attempted to finish his over, but collapsed in his delivery stride and was carried off the field.Any brief sense of amusement at Stone’s predicament dissipated even further when scans revealed the serious extent of the injury. Stone, afflicted by injuries during a disrupted and occasionally devastating career, has suffered a “compact knee injury with anterior cruciate ligament and cartilage involvement”. He has now been referred to a specialist surgeon.Stone’s season has been relatively unspectacular. He has taken six wickets in three matches in Division Two of the Specsavers Championship and three wickets in three NatWest T20 Blast fixtures.Northants’ small squad has been stricken by injury and they may be forced to look for further reinforcements to get through the season.

Scorecard and ball-by-ball detailsFile photo: Tino Mawoyo’s unbeaten 79 in the second innings helped Zimbabwe A to secure a convincing draw•Associated Press

A stubborn batting performance from Zimbabwe A ensured they held their own against a South Africa A attack headlined by Vernon Philander, who is on the comeback trail. On a typically slow Harare winter surface, Philander proved more miserly than penetrative and he did not finish as the visitors’ star performer. That title went to Omphile Ramela, who scored a second century in four matches for South Africa A to showcase the depth in the batting department that had been thought to be missing recently.Test opener Stephen Cook started South Africa A off well, with 78 at the top of the order, sharing in half-century stands with Theunis de Bruyn and Stiaan van Zyl, who scored 73, but against a Zimbabwean attack in which only Shingi Masakadza stood out as a real threat, South Africa A’s top four would have been disappointed not to reach three figures.Instead, it was Ramela who managed the milestone. He batted for two minutes short of five-and-a-half hours and put on 125 runs for the sixth wicket with Dwaine Pretorius to frustrate Zimbabwe A’s attack. Masakadza accounted for Pretorius but Zimbabwe A could not bowl South Africa A out and would have been thankful for the declaration that came midway through the second day.From there, all eyes switched to Philander but Zimbabwe’s A’s openers resisted. Tino Mawoyo and Brian Chari, who went on to score 98, put on 87 for the first wicket and it was up to Dane Piedt to make the breakthrough. Hardus Viljoen and Pretorius also had success, before Philander got his first and second with successive deliveries.That sent Zimbabwe A tumbling. They went from 238 for 4 to 269 all out, losing their last six wickets for 31 runs, and giving South Africa A a lead of 186. Cook and Kuhn built on that slightly but de Bruyn topped up with a second half-century to push the target beyond 300. Once again, Zimbabwe A could not bowl out South Africa A and after they batted for seven overs on the final morning they declared on 171 for 3, to set the hosts a target of 358.Chari could not repeat his first innings heroics and fell to Philander in the fifth over but that was the only success South Africa A had. Mawoyo and Prince Masvaure resisted everything South Africa A threw at them, which included 16 overs from Viljoen, another 16 from Piedt and an aggressive 10 overs from Sisanda Magala, to force the draw. Philander only bowled eight overs in the second innings to ease his way back. The next match takes place in Bulawayo from July 15.

Shaun Marsh has been forced home from the tour of Sri Lanka after breaking his finger while fielding in Australia’s win in the third ODI in Dambulla on Sunday.”Shaun suffered an injury to his left little finger whilst fielding in the match yesterday,” Australia’s physio David Beakley said. “An x-ray after the match confirmed a fracture and Shaun will now return to Perth to allow time for this to heal.”As a result of Marsh’s injury, Usman Khawaja will stay on with the squad in Sri Lanka for the two Twenty20s that follow the remaining two one-day internationals. Khawaja is yet to play in the limited-overs portion of the tour, but will likely step into the No.3 position for Wednesday’s fourth match in Dambulla in the absence of Marsh.Australia’s ODI squad has undergone several changes since the original 15-man group was announced a month ago. First, the batsman Travis Head was added as a 16th player, and then allrounder Mitchell Marsh was sent home ahead of the series to rest up ahead of a busy summer.Captain Steven Smith has also flown home for a break, and fast bowler Nathan Coulter-Nile was ruled out mid-series with a stress fracture of the back. Fast bowlers John Hastings and Scott Boland, who were named in the squad for the two T20s, arrived in Sri Lanka early and have effectively acted as ODI cover as well, with Hastings playing in the third game in Dambulla.

ScorecardPeter Trego put on a show for Andrew Strauss, whether he liked it or not•Getty Images

Soap operas have story arcs; and so, too, do days at the cricket. However, unlike contrived dramas dreamt up on flip-charts, they emerge more mysteriously over six hours of toil and skill. Which is not to say that they defy précis; for example, who can beat this disgruntled Lancashire supporter’s online summary of the first day of this game? “Woeful. Then got some wickets. Then crap again”. Thank you, Sir Neville Cardus.The arc of the second day was fairly simple, too, yet it was replete with contrasting entertainments. For 38 overs Somerset’s eighth-wicket pair, Peter Trego and Ryan Davies first denied Steven Croft’s bowlers an early breakthrough and then dismantled the home attack, extending their stand to 236 before the excellent Davies chopped on to Tom Bailey having made a career-best 86.That dismissal, which occurred 25 minutes into the afternoon session, gave Bailey his fifth wicket. However, he was only member of Croft’s attack to enjoy success on a day when some bowling analyses should not have been read out while there were so many children in the ground.Indeed, rather a lot of Lancashire’s cricket in the morning session was ragged and often not even that good. Faced with two batsmen who were quick to seize on any error in line or length, some bowlers wilted and field placings were a trifle strange. This reached a climax when Jordan Clark bowled to Davies with a long leg, a deep backward square leg and a deep forward square leg. It looked rather like a far-flung version of leg theory: Bodyline for fielders with body odour. Eventually, long leg was brought in and Davies whacked a six over his head.The fact that Trego and Davies were batting very well indeed on a true wicket did nothing to soothe the discontent among some home supporters but at least they were to be presented with an outlet for their ire. Displaying bravery that would not shame a Gurkha, Lancashire officials had decided to hold a Members’ Forum at Old Trafford after the second day of this game.Rumour has it that flak jackets and tin hats were issued to those attending and that Kate Adie was on hand to report developments, it being axiomatic that no scene of strife is complete without her stern presence. The regulars around the bar in Taunton’s Ring O’Bells may have been in splendid fettle on Thursday lunchtime evening but Old Trafford’s famous pit of hate was bubbling ominously.Nor was England’s director of cricket particularly pleased by Trego and Davies’s excellent partnership. Andrew Strauss had arrived at Emirates Old Trafford on Thursday morning presumably with the intention of seeing Haseeb Hameed bat after Somerset’s tail had been whisked away as adroitly as a magician’s cape. Instead of which, he saw Weston super Mare and Thanet’s finest establish a new eighth-wicket record for their county. Very good watching, of course, but not exactly part of his overarching plan for the national game. Strauss left before lunch. “Sod this for a game of soldiers” may have summed up his feelings as he ambled away.Yet Somerset’s cricket in the first half of this day was quite admirable and helped explain why they are challenging, albeit distantly, for the title. Much as Steve Waugh’s notion of mental disintegration might still attract courteous contempt when applied to abuse of the opposition, the idea of destroying your opponent’s will to resist by keeping your foot on his neck for far longer than he might expect is altogether more acceptable.But when you are faced with a follow-on target of 404, it is probably comforting to have Hameed in your side. There have been plenty of indications over the past week that Lancashire’s 19-year-old opener may skip the Lions stage of development and tour with the full England side this winter. His batting against Somerset did nothing to make those ideas look silly.Opening with the 20-year-old Rob Jones, who was playing only his second first-class match, Hameed scored most of the runs in their 87-run opening stand and his first three boundaries – a cover drive, a clip through midwicket and, unusually, a square cut – suggested once again that he is finding it easier to keep the score ticking over. There was the tranquillity, too: at its best Hameed’s batting would calm a dervish in mid-whirl.Every shot was played and, as often as not, played again to a now imaginary ball. Hameed’s batting occasionally gives the impression that every stroke in the game possesses a quintessence of perfection which can be sought but never achieved. Nevertheless, merely to search is sufficient. He can turn batting into a version of the Japanese tea ceremony.Then again, most of the time he is just a young bloke scoring runs and he had made 56 of them, passing the half-century mark for the eleventh time in 23 innings when he was out, an event so unexpected in these parts that it may soon prompt wild-eyed panic in Rusholme and a run on the market. Hameed already has his bevvy of supporters at Old Trafford, the Hassettes perhaps, and they were cast into gloom when he nibbled at a good ball from Tim Groenewald, who was the pick of Somerset’s attack.Groenewald then followed up this dismissal by running out Jones for a well-made 34 when his sharp return beat the batsman’s impetuous scamper down the wicket and he would have removed Alviro Petersen for two had Chris Rogers caught a low chance at mid-off. Instead of which the day ended with Petersen reaching a thousand Championship runs for the season and Lancashire’s coaches grateful for his survival.All that remained was the Members’ Forum. “Now for the tricky bit…” as Basil Fawlty once said.