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Renshaw helped Somerset get to the top the Division One table – taking them within reach of a maiden title win – prior to their innings defeat against Surrey on Friday

ESPNcricinfo staff23-Jun-2018Australia opener Matt Renshaw’s stint with his county side Somerset has been cut short after he suffered a broken finger during the four-day match against Surrey at Guildford.Renshaw, who was signed as Cameron Bancroft’s replacement for the club, is currently the side’s top run-scorer. He made 513 in six four-day matches, including three centuries, and 180 runs in six One-Day Cup games. Notably, Renshaw’s 1180 runs in 24 innings is the best by anyone in first-class cricket this year and narrowly so. He is five runs clear of Sri Lanka’s Roshen Silva, who will likely take the top spot once the day-night Test in Barbados begins on Saturday.”Matt sustained a fracture on the top of his finger,” Somerset coach Jason Kerr said. “After speaking with Cricket Australia it has been agreed that he will return to Australia sooner rather than later.”Sadly for us that means it is the end of his time with Somerset this season. It’s a huge blow to us because he has been brilliant both on and off the field. He fitted into the dressing room very well and a player of that calibre is going to be missed.”Renshaw was expected to be available until the end of June, and return to the club in mid-August. His sublime form had helped Somerset get to the top the Division One table – taking them within reach of a maiden title win – prior to their innings defeat against Surrey on Friday. His century on first-class debut for the club also made him the 14th man to do so in Somerset’s history and the first since Alviro Petersen in 2013.

While speaking of the respect the team has for Anil Kumble’s achievements as a cricketer, has offered little about the events that led to his resignation as head coach

ESPNcricinfo staff22-Jun-20171:44

Sanctity of change room is paramount – Kohli

India captain Virat Kohli, while speaking of the respect the team has for Anil Kumble’s achievements as a cricketer, has offered little about the events that led to Kumble’s resignation as head coach on Tuesday, three days before the start of the limited-overs series in the West Indies.”Anil has expressed his views and taken a decision to step out,” Kohli said at a media briefing in Port-of-Spain, where India play the first ODI against West Indies on Friday. “We all respect that decision. It is something that has happened right after the tournament (Champions Trophy).”Even though he was pressed to reveal the differences with Kumble, Kohli maintained that he could not break the culture of not divulging dressing room details in public. “I’ve had 11 press conferences that have happened during the Champions Trophy… We have created a culture over the last three-four years that whatever happens in the change room, we’ve tried to maintain the sanctity of the change room throughout,” he said. “That is what the whole team believes in. For us that is paramount. I’ve always respected that and we have continued to maintain that as well.”While stepping down as head coach Kumble spoke about the reservations Kohli had with him, but Kohli refused to be drawn into the issue. “It’s his opinion, his point of view which I respect,” Kohli said about Kumble, India’s leading wicket taker in Tests and ODIs, going public with the differences between the two. “I have total respect for him as a cricketer and what he has achieved for the nation. All the years that he has played. There’s no taking away that aspect of him at all. And we all respect him totally.”On being asked whether Kumble’s approach affected the team (negatively), Kohli didn’t give a direct reply. “Like I said, for me what’s most important is to maintain the sanctity of the change room and what happens in the change room is something that’s very sacred and private to all of us, and something that I would not express in details in a public scenario. As I said, his point of view is out there and we respect that decision.”Hours after resigning as India coach, Kumble said he had been informed for the first time on the same day by the BCCI that “the captain had reservations with my style and about my continuing as head coach”. Kumble, whose contract ended with the Champions Trophy but had been given an extension to take the team to the West Indies, termed his working relationship with Kohli ‘untenable’. He announced his resignation while the squad was flying to the Caribbean.Two days before the Champions Trophy had kicked off in England, it emerged in the media that India captain Kohli had told BCCI officials that some players were uncomfortable with the “intimidating” style of Kumble’s man management. As a result, despite India’s success in Kumble’s year in charge, during which the team climbed to No.1 in the Test rankings, the board advertised for fresh interviews for the head coach’s position instead of extending his contract. Incidentally, Kumble did reapply for the job then.

Sunrisers Hyderabad captain David Warner believes his side hasn’t played to potential over the last two years, but hopes they will be able to overcome two successive losses while facing Mumbai Indians on Monday

Nagraj Gollapudi in Hyderabad17-Apr-2016David Warner, the Sunrisers Hyderabad captain, believes his side has failed to work out the “complete game” in the last two IPL seasons, but hopes his team will be able to “gel together” in their next match, against Mumbai Indians on Monday.Sunrisers have lost both their matches so far and sit at the bottom of the points table. Last year, they had failed to qualify for the knockouts, finishing third from the bottom with seven wins and as many losses. The biggest positive was the form of Warner, who was the leading run-scorer with 562 runs from 14 innings.Warner remains the team’s go-to batsman especially in the absence of Yuvraj Singh and Kane Williamson, both of whom are nursing injuries and likely to miss a fair amount of matches in the first half. But Warner has tried to make up for those losses. He hit a quickfire half-century in a valiant chase of 228 against Royal Challengers Bangalore in their season opener.But against Kolkata Knight Riders on Saturday, Warner and his opening partner, Shikhar Dhawan, faltered to leave Sunrisers precariously placed at 36 for 3 in the first six overs. It was a passage which Tom Moody, the coach, felt cost them the match. And Warner agreed.”In hindsight we didn’t bat as well as we planned,” Warner said. “Chasing 228 is always a big ask at any venue, but we know in Bangalore 200 gets run down a lot. We just weren’t good enough on the day. Then, in the other game, we didn’t start well – we lost three wickets in the first six. That is not ideal. You need 160-170 to defend at least.”Our bowlers have sort of missed the mark in the last two games – I felt that execution was not there. We bowled probably one or two bad overs last night, but were good upfront. We still haven’t had the complete game. Last year and this year we still haven’t worked out the complete game, the batters haven’t worked well with the bowlers. We have to try and gel and work together as much as we can.”Interestingly, 44% of Sunrisers’ runs this season have been scored by Warner and Eoin Morgan. Unlike some of the other teams, Sunrisers have lacked firepower in the middle. But Warner felt it was the responsibility of the top four to carry the team through.”You are not going to get the depth as you like,” he said. “You have to use your resources smartly, which is very challenging. I don’t think we have a weakness there [in the lower order]. It is about getting our top four to bat through ten overs. That is where the runs come – top four is where the bulk of the runs come and I guarantee you No. 5, No. 6 and No. 7 will do their job very well then. We have to work on how we are going to get our balance right, how we can use our Indian players well.”Warner was mindful of the damage a third successive loss could do early in their campaign. “We have got to really come out firing,” he said. “This game is going to be the game where we gel together. They are going to be hungry as well because they are in the same position as us. We have to be switched on and make sure we keep executing our plans, we can’t keep talking about it, we have to do it on the day.”Even as he offered perspective on the team’s shortcomings, Warner didn’t shy away from pointing out his own mistakes, including his dismissal against Knight Riders. He had backed away to cut Umesh Yadav, but was too early into the stroke and handed a catch to short cover to fall for 13 in the fourth over.”I have got out a fair bit like that,” Warner admitted. “You pick up the ball so early, but you try and place the ball. We always tell ourselves when we are trying to place the ball that you actually don’t go through with the shot and it sort of just pops up like that. I always walk off and wonder ‘why did I do that?’ Because it is hard when you are out there; some people understand that and some don’t. When you are out there, sometimes you go through with it and sometimes it just stops and you wonder ‘man, how do I get out of that?’ I don’t even know sometimes.”What hurt Sunrisers was the timing of his dismissal, which came four balls after Shikhar Dhawan was dismissed. “I was disappointed with the way I got out,” he continued. “I have had success doing the same thing against Morne Morkel. But the wicket from his end was bouncing. At the other end Yadav was getting it to skid through. I know there is a height difference, but still there was a little bit of inconsistency. That is where you talk about giving yourself some time. I know I did not give myself the time. I was a bit rushed, but sometimes in the game that gets you going, sometimes it can be your downfall as well.”

Abahani relinquished a golden opportunity to sign Shakib Al Hasan and some other top names in Bangladesh cricket, instead focusing on youth

Mohammad Isam25-Aug-2013Abahani relinquished a golden opportunity to sign Shakib Al Hasan and some other top names in Bangladesh cricket, instead focusing on youth. It could yet end up as the smartest move as most of the Bangladesh players will be busy in October, taking on New Zealand at home, coinciding with the business-end of the Dhaka Premier League.”Our focus is youth this year,” said Abahani official and BCB ad-hoc committee member Ismail Haider Mallick. “We didn’t go for Shakib and Mahmudullah. We want to pick players who will be fully available during the whole league and not just for a few matches.”Their first pick was Liton Kumar Das, a young wicketkeeper-batsman and it was followed by the likes of young allrounders Alauddin Babu and Taposh Ghosh. There is a sprinkling of experience in the form of Shahriar Nafees, Nazimuddin and left-arm spinner Nabil Samad but the majority of the 14 players they picked are below the age of 25.Shakib has only played for Abahani in one season, in 2008-09. It ended badly, with the supporters trying to assault him after Abahani lost to arch-rivals Mohammedan by one wicket in the title-deciding game.Defending champions Victoria Sporting Club also let go of a chance to draft Shakib and Tamim Iqbal, instrumental in their triumph last year. They went for Nasir Hossain, now a player of high demand in the domestic circuit.The two newly-promoted sides, Khelaghar Samaj Kallyan Samity and Kalabagan Cricket Academy, were lucky to have their share of some senior players. Batsmen Faisal Hossain and Shuvogoto Hom Chowdhury went to Khelaghar while Marshall Ayub, Sahagir Hossain and Talha Jubair went to Kalabagan Cricket Academy.

Andrew Strauss has no intentions of marking his 100th Test by resigning from the captaincy after England’s 2-0 Test series defeat against South Africa, their heaviest defeat in a home Test series for 11 years.

George Dobell20-Aug-2012Andrew Strauss has no immediate intentions of marking his 100th Test by resigning from the captaincy after England’s 2-0 Test series defeat against South Africa, their heaviest defeat in a home Test series for 11 years.”Hope so,” was his brief response when he was asked at the presentation ceremony at Lord’s if he wanted to captain England as they try to reclaim the top Test ranking which they have held so shakily for the past year.But there was little disguising that England’s poor performances in their year as Test No 1, his own poor form and the stand-off with Kevin Pietersen, all hang more heavily upon him than he cares to indicate.Half-an-hour later, pressed whether his enthusiasm for captaincy of the Test side had been galvanised by a spirited run chase on the final day at Lord’s, he was more equivocal and declined to reaffirm his desire to remain in the role unconditionally.”It’s probably hard to answer that after the week that’s just gone by,” he said. “It’s been a tiring week. I’ve great faith in the team; I’ve great faith in the set-up. I’ve still got a lot of desire there. I’m keen to get away for a few days and have a bit of a break. Then we all need to sit down – myself and Andy Flower in particular – and try and map out the way forward. I’ve got great faith in the talent in the dressing room, and also the desire in the dressing room and we’re going to need that.”During England’s time as No 1, they have lost six of their 11 Tests this year, losing to Pakistan in the UAE and at home to a South Africa side who out-performed them in all facets of the game. The last time England lost a home Test series by more than one match was against Australia, who prevailed 3-1 in the 2001 Ashes.Strauss, who failed to make a half-century in the series, admitted that it had been a difficult year, one which he would remember: “Not with a great deal of fondness”.He said: “We have had some tough times and I think that is a good thing. Test cricket tests out your character and your resilience. When you are No. 1 people are trying to gun you down and we have come unstuck a few times. I think we have learned a lot along the way.Andrew Strauss said he hopes he is the man to lead England back to No. 1•Getty Images

“We’ve lost a lot more than we would have wanted to. Maybe that tag of being No 1 hasn’t sat as comfortably as it should have done with us. We haven’t been in that situation before, and maybe we’ve learned from some important lessons on how we should approach it in the future. Our first priority is to get back in that situation.”Whether it was because of a change of mindset – from being the hunters to the ones that are hunted – I don’t know. Or maybe we came unstuck in the sub-continent and lost a bit of confidence along the way. I don’t know the exact answers right now. But those are the sort of questions we need to find answers to.”When you reach No. 1 you have to up your performance, you can’t rest on your laurels, you can’t afford any bad days, you have to be hungry, just as motivated. Although I can’t fault the effort the guys have put in, in certain areas we haven’t been quite on the ball.”It will be a shame to hand over that mace to South Africa but right at the moment they deserve to be No 1 and we will come back.”Strauss identified England’s poor catching and flimsy top-order batting as the primary reasons England lost the series. “The obvious thing to focus on is that our batting was below-par and we dropped catches,” he said.”In a three-Test series in particular, dropping those sort of catches against a good batting line-up can be the difference between winning and losing games. We’ve got to sit back and have a look at everything, really: how we’re training; everything we can control; can we do it better?”We were never favourites to win the game today, but I thought the spirit the guys showed and the never-say-die attitude they displayed was a great credit to all the players. This was how I expected the whole series to play out – very close games of cricket, small margins between the sides.”

Title-chasing Durham kept Nottinghamshire under pressure on the first day at Trent Bridge despite a century from Alex Hales, but the loss of three top-order wickets dented their advantage

Jon Culley at Trent Bridge22-Aug-2011
Scorecard
Alex Hales provided more evidence that Nottinghamshire’s long search for a consistently productive opening partnership is at least half complete but Durham emerged in better shape than they might have expected from a day that threatened to put their title challenge under real pressure, even though they have some work to do after closing on 44 for 3 on a surface producing some disconcertingly variable bounce.Presented with a pitch not much more than a firm push from the boundary on the Bridgford Road side, Notts captain Chris Read took the decision to bat first for only the second time at Trent Bridge this summer. As the day unfolded, it seemed he may have been thinking as much about not batting last, but one would imagine he would have wanted to give his bowlers at least 320 to defend.Instead, Notts fell 50 runs short of that, scraping a second batting point thanks only to a boisterous cameo from Darren Pattinson, who celebrated his recall under the county’s fast-bowler rotation policy by smashing three sixes in his 18-ball 28.Hales made his second century of the season, indeed his second in his last three Championship innings here, which will please Mick Newell even more given this ground’s reputation as a graveyard for opening batsmen. No problem has etched more lines on the face of the Notts director of cricket than the search for a winning combination at the top of the order but Hales at least seems to have got Trent Bridge’s measure.His 115 took his aggregate in the 2011 Championship to 795 from 10 matches at 49.68. He had a few hairy moments and should have been out on 96 when he steered a ball from Mitch Claydon into the hands of Callum Thorp, who spilled a straightforward chance at gully. Otherwise, the 22-year-old played with the authority Newell will hope to see from both his openers when Michael Lumb arrives from Hampshire next season.Given that, even taking into account the absence of Samit Patel – also on England duty – it was understandable for Newell to be disappointed with 270 all out. Karl Turner, who opened with Hales this time, misjudged a ball from Thorp that clipped the top of off stump as he offered no shot, and Darren Bravo, having looked in the mood to take full advantage of the short boundary, fell on 23, reaching into an expansive drive off Ruel Brathwaite, which he edged to the keeper.Nonetheless, 130 for 2 should have been a platform for better. Yet Riki Wessels, who had contributed only three singles in a stand of 51 with Hales, dangled his bat out to Claydon to give Phil Mustard the second of his four catches and Steven Mullaney thin-edged a pull, both men out in single figures.Mullaney’s wicket was a first in the Championship for the debutant Mark Wood, a 21-year-old who hails from Stephen Harmison’s home town of Ashington. Considerably shorter and with a whippy action, Wood has little else in common with the former England speed merchant and has on odd run-up that begins with him pushing off as if from a sprinter’s starting blocks and ends almost on the wrong foot. But he accredited himself reasonably well after a difficult start. He claimed a second wicket when Pattinson holed out to mid-off and would have had a decent day all round had he not spilled a skyer from Andre Adams at backward point off Brathwaite.Chris Read dabbed at one that kept low to be caught behind before Hales, perhaps becoming frustrated after Ian Blackwell’s accurate left-arm spin had stemmed the flow of runs, was caught on the square leg boundary with a miscued pick-up after Brathwaite had come back into the attack.Notts habitually find redemption in the lower order but after Adams had flailed away briefly and perished in predictable fashion on the long-off boundary, only Paul Franks was able to offer a shot in the arm this time and, after seven boundaries, his contribution was cut short when Claydon got one to move away enough to induce an edge to second slip, after which Graeme White was leg before trying to turn Blackwell into the leg side.Pattinson’s three sixes, all off Claydon to the short boundary, included one that was caught by Brathwaite but effectively carried the fielder over the rope and another that was almost one-handed.Those big blows evidently put an extra spring in Pattinson’s step and the Notts bowlers in general were able to exploit the vagaries in the surface to greater effect than their Durham counterparts.Luke Fletcher made one climb on Di Venuto, whose cut became more of a swish, Hales taking the catch at first slip. Then Pattinson brought one back to bowl Will Smith, who became the second batsman out on the day shouldering arms, and produced a fine, swinging delivery that Mark Stoneman edged to third slip to leave the visitors 27 for 3.After that, Paul Collingwood and Dale Benkenstein did well to weather the closing overs before a sharp bouncer from Fletcher in fading light prompted the umpires to terminate play a couple of overs early.

World ODI champions Australia clash against India and South Africa their two warm-up matches, in Bangalore, ahead of World Cup 2011

Cricinfo staff19-Aug-2010Holders Australia will play India and South Africa in Bangalore in warm-up matches next February ahead of World Cup 2011, the two fixtures headlining the series of practice games involving all 14 participating teams. The matches – two for each side – will not have official ODI status and will be played in Bangalore, Chennai, Chittagong, Colombo, Dhaka, Nagpur and Pallekele.The tournament proper starts exactly six months from now and ICC president Sharad Pawar was bullish in talking of its prospects. “Let there be no doubt whatsoever that the ICC, along with the three co-hosts, will ensure that the ICC Cricket World Cup 2011 is the best of all the World Cups staged so far,” Pawar said.Bangladesh opener Tamim Iqbal looked forward to playing in front of home crowds in the World Cup. “This will be my second World Cup but definitely the one I am longing for. In front of our own fans, families and friends we have the opportunity to make the country proud and deep inside every Bangladesh cricketer is a burning desire to excel,” said Tamim, who was instrumental in Bangladesh’s upset win against India in their opening game of the 2007 World Cup. The two teams will square off in the opening match of the 2011 edition, in Dhaka.

Warm-up matches schedule

February 12: New Zealand v Ireland in Nagpur, Zimbabwe v South Africa in Chennai, West Indies v Kenya in Colombo, Sri Lanka v Netherlands in Pallekele, Bangladesh v Canada in ChittagongFebruary 13: India v Australia in BangaloreFebruary 15: Australia v South Africa in Bangalore, Ireland v Zimbabwe in Nagpur, Kenya v Netherlands in Pallekele, Bangladesh v Pakistan in DhakaFebruary 16: India v New Zealand in Chennai, Sri Lanka v West Indies in Colombo, England v Canada in DhakaFebruary 18: England v Pakistan in Dhaka

NSW veteran Kurtis Patterson has scored an unbeaten 167 to lift his side to 463 for 9, leading by 252 against WA

AAP08-Dec-2024Sam Konstas has missed out on another century but teammate Kurtis Patterson managed to break a long drought to give New South Wales a chance of pulling off victory in their Sheffield Shield clash with Western Australia at the SCG.The Blues went to stumps on day three at 463 for 9 in their first innings, with a lead of 252 after WA were rolled for 211. Heavy rain washed out most of day two, but NSW made up for that lost time by piling on the runs on Sunday.Konstas (88) resumed on his overnight score of 80, but his hopes of scoring his fourth century of the summer were dashed when he edged Lance Morris to second slip.Patterson picked up where Konstas left off, scoring an unbeaten 167 off 255 balls to lift the home side to a big first-innings lead. It marked a big turnaround for Patterson, who was dropped last season amidst a form slump.He now has 527 runs this season at an astounding average of 105.40, thrusting his name back into the national selection puzzle to add to his two Tests.Patterson yelled out in joy upon reaching his century – his first ton in 769 days. The previous highest first-class total by Patterson was 157 on debut as an 18-year-old, but he surged past that late on day three.The 31-year-old struck 15 fours and three sixes during his glittering knock, while Chris Green (35) and Jack Edwards (30) added some handy runs lower down the order.WA paceman Brody Couch finished with 3 for 66, while Morris (2 for 69) and Cameron Gannon (2 for 99) also chipped in.Spinner Corey Rocchiccioli, who is trying to earn a spot on Australia’s two-Test tour of Sri Lanka, returned figures of 1 for 87 off 27 overs.For WA, the final day will be all about survival given there’s no hope the defending champions can win the match. NSW sit second last on the table, and desperately need to win in order to revive their finals hopes.WA, winners of the past three titles, entered the match second on the ladder.

Laura Wolvaardt is the favourite to take over; vice-captain Chloe Tryon has opted out of the tour, requesting a “leave of absence”

Firdose Moonda18-Aug-2023 • Updated on 20-Aug-2023Sune Luus has stepped down as South Africa’s captain, less than six months after leading the team to their first senior World Cup final – for women or men – with CSA set to unveil a new leader ahead of their white-ball tour of Pakistan in two weeks’ time. Luus is part of the squad, with Laura Wolvaardt the favourite to replace her.Confusion surrounds Luus’ decision, for which no reason was initially given in a press release issued by CSA. It read that Luus “will no longer continue her interim captaincy”, even though Luus had herself said she was “appointed official captain” prior to the T20 World Cup in February. A senior official at CSA told ESPNcricinfo that the board “understood Sune was given the captaincy permanently”, with Chloe Tryon as her understudy.After ESPNcricinfo first published this story, a CSA spokesperson said Luus had “asked to step aside to focus on her cricket.” The same reason was not made public on any CSA channels.Related

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Privately, it has been communicated that Luus does not want to lead under the existing management structure.Tryon will not travel to Pakistan after requesting a “leave of absence”, according to CSA, which further underlines what several sources have called “significant challenges” facing the women’s team. Chief among them is an unhappiness in the squad with the decision not to appoint a new coach after the T20 World Cup, with Hilton Moreeng now in his 11th year in the job.Moreeng had been informed that CSA was going to advertise his post this winter, which he was welcome to reapply for, but that did not happen. Instead Moreeng’s tenure has been extended until December 31, and he will oversee South Africa’s series against Pakistan, New Zealand and Bangladesh.Last week, ESPNcricinfo reported that a group of players had written to CSA expressing their desire for change in the backroom staff. It is understood that while the players do not have a personal issue with Moreeng, they are looking for a different approach and fresh ideas after more than a decade of development under Moreeng.Tumi Sekhukhune is back in the squad while Chloe Tryon has opted out of the tour•Sportsfile via Getty Images

In that time, he presided over the professionalisation of the women’s game and took the team to the last two 50-overs World Cup semi-finals and the most recent T20 World Cup final. His success is believed to be a reason why a section of the CSA board has pushed for him to continue, and neglected to seek a replacement over the off-season.Similarly, CSA did not hold any camps for their women’s team from the end of the World Cup until earlier this week, though several players have been involved in overseas leagues. They also did not have any discussions over the captaincy, leading to an 11th hour appointment ahead of the Pakistan series. One source said “someone has dropped the ball” when it comes to the women’s game and there was a lack of focus on this area of the game after the highs of the team’s T20 World Cup performance.The bulk of the squad who will travel to Pakistan – 12 of the 15 – were part of the T20 World Cup group. Tumi Sekhukhune has replaced Shabnim Ismail, who retired from international cricket in May, allrounder Nondumiso Shangase, who captains the Dolphins, is back in the squad, and there is one uncapped player: wicketkeeper-batter Meike de Ridder. Tryon and Annerie Derksen, who is recovering from a fractured finger, are the two other players from the T20 World Cup who are not in this squad.South Africa will play three T20Is and three ODIs in Pakistan between September 1 and 14. The ODIs are part of the ICC Women’s Championship, which determines qualification for the next World Cup.South Africa squad: Anneke Bosch, Tazmin Brits, Nadine de Klerk, Mieke de Ridder, Lara Goodall, Sinalo Jafta, Marizanne Kapp, Ayabonga Khaka, Masabata Klaas, Sune Luus, Nonkululeko Mlaba, Tumi Sekhukhune, Nondumiso Shangase, Delmi Tucker, Laura Wolvaardt.GMT 1510 The article was updated to reflect the CSA spokesperson’s statement on Luus stepping down.

Cobb, Gay, McManus contribute fifties as Warwickshire bowlers battle

ECB Reporters Network26-Jun-2022Rob Keogh’s first century since the season’s opening game led the run glut for Northamptonshire on day one of their LV= Insurance County Championship clash with Warwickshire at Wantage Road.The county’s longest-serving player struck 130 with 20 fours in a three-and-three-quarter-hour stay of elegant stroke play as the hosts reached 420 for 6. The right-hander shared a fifth-wicket stand of 161 with Josh Cobb (88) – all this after Emilio Gay had caressed his way to 70 in the morning session.For much of the day the defending champions’ bowling could be classed as wayward, skipper Will Rhodes the honourable exception with 2 for 44 from 20 frugal overs.Ricardo Vasconcelos, in his first game back from injury, didn’t cash in on his decision to bat first after winning the toss, making only 5 before driving loosely at one from Henry Brookes to be caught behind.South African international, Ryan Rickleton, parachuted in for two championship games to cover for Will Young, away on Test duty with New Zealand, was almost run out for nought before also falling cheaply to a brilliant left-handed catch by wicketkeeper Michael Burgess.Thereafter, the morning was dominated by Gay’s stylish innings. The young left-hander was beautifully still at the crease, compact in defence, playing the ball right in front of his eyes. From that base, Gay unfurled some sumptuous off and cover drives in reaching 50 from 62 balls. However, with a century in the offing, lunch beckoning and having just pulled Nathan McAndrew for successive fours, the former Bedford School scholar tried the shot a third time to a straighter bumper and only succeeded in finding the safe hands of Matt Lamb at fine leg. The way the youngster dragged himself off suggested he knew he’d missed an opportunity.When Luke Proctor fell lbw to the nagging accuracy of Rhodes, the hosts were 139 for 4. However, this brought together Keogh and Cobb, who feasted on some friendly offerings from the visitors for much of the afternoon.The two batters provided a great contrast of styles Keogh all timing and elegance as he peppered the mid-off and cover boundaries in racing to 50 at quicker than a run a ball with 11 fours. Cobb matched Keogh’s boundary count but took 25 balls more, mixing defence with brutal ball striking.Once passed 50 Cobb cut loose in what appeared to be a race to a hundred between the pair. However, on 88 the county’s one-day skipper pulled a rare long-hop from Rhodes which looked to be going for six until Craig Miles took a superb catch falling backwards just inside the rope at deep square.Keogh though found another batting ally in Lewis McManus and pushed on to complete a chanceless hundred soon after tea courtesy of an 18th four.The hosts had reached 372 for 5 by the time the second new ball was due and Oliver Hannon-Dalby made the shiny cherry count, ending Keogh’s vigil with one which bounced on him and took the edge, Dom Sibley taking the catch at slip.It was though their only reward as McManus became the fourth player to pass 50 shortly before the close.