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Nottinghamshire have announced plans to give Trent Bridge an £8.2million facelift in a bid to keep international cricket at the ground. They plan to install floodlights – which would make Notts only the fifth county to have them – and to create a further 2,142 seats by replacing one of the stands.Work is set to start next August, subject to planning approval, following the last home game, with a view to the new stand being operational ready for internationals the following year. The stand in question is the West Wing and Parr Stand on the Bridgford Road side of the ground.Other development plans include the creation of a new office and administration block, which will provide a base for match officials and will include a replay screen and electronic scoreboard.With other grounds vying to host coveted England matches, the officials at Nottinghamshire realise that development is a must. “The ECB have set high standards which we are determined to exceed,” said the Notts chief executive Derek Brewer. “As the third oldest Test ground in the world, it’s a local treasure. But reputation alone is not enough.”It’s a big task to raise £8.2million but we are currently working through detailed financial proposals and are in the early stages of discussions with our bankers.”

Scorecard and ball-by-ball details
How they were out

Robin Uthappa’s scintillating century propelled India B to the finals © Getty Images

A sensational hundred from Robin Uthappa, filled with youthful exuberance and joyous audacity, steered India B to a thumping victory in the final league game at Mohali and took them to the final, where they will meet India Seniors tomorrow. A record third-wicket stand between VVS Laxman and Suresh Raina had set India A up, and taken them to 260, but lack of a boost in the final overs and the cracker of an innings from Uthappa left them gasping.What do you do when you’re at the top of an inexperienced batting order, chasing a daunting target under lights, in a must-win game against a varied bowling line-up? Play the innings of the tournament, of course. And how? Start steadily, build a partnership, up the rate after the fifth over, race along after the tenth, shift gear after the 15th, go berserk in the 16th, set the stadium ablaze in 17th, make it rain boundaries in the 18th, reduce the asking-rate drastically and walk off.Whatever Uthappa had in the drinks break, after the 15th over, needs to be bottled. Until then he had made 51 off 56 balls, had shown glimpses of fearlessness and, along with Shikhar Dhawan, given India B a steady start. A flicked four off Lakshmipathy Balaji and a slapped cut of Shanbaz Nadeem, the rookie left-arm spinner, ignited the fire. Rudra Pratap Singh reappeared. Edge, drive, slash, carve. Raina appeared. Four, four, four six. Ninety seven off 76. Tewari appeared and with an air of nonchalance, Uthappa stood still, delivered a majestic straight lofted four, turned around to his dressing-room, held both hands aloft, beamed a cherubic smile, and took a bow. He was forced to leave the field owing to cramps, returned for a brief cameo and left with his side all but sure of victory. Many might have forgotten the superb 66 off 48 balls in a losing cause in the only Challenger Trophy game last season but this game will surely be remembered as Uthappa’s match.He managed with a little help from his friends. Shikhar Dhawan kick-started the chase with some classical cuts before he was unlucky to be backing up too far when a forceful drive from Uthappa ricocheted off the bowler’s arm onto the stumps. And Sridharan Sriram and Dinesh Mongia added 77 in a controlled fashion, with hardly any pressure to deal with, as India B made the target look inadequate.The total had been made possible owing to Laxman’s fabulous century and Raina’s power-laden 97. The openers had fallen cheaply – Dheeraj Jadhav missed an imcoming delivery in the second ball he faced while Gautam Gambhir glided one, from Sreesanth, straight into the hands of Parthiv Patel behind the stumps. Laxman, though, tended to the early wounds and carried on from where he had left off in the first game. It is tough to imagine how bowlers feel when good deliveries are tenderly brushed around with hardly any follow through, and absolutely no anger. When Laxman bats with such majestic poise, the quality of bowler, type of delivery and the situation of the match don’t usually matter. Drives flowed, cuts thrilled, pushes took the breath away as Laxman seamlessly eased to his half-century, off 51 balls. The second half was less breezy as he and Raina solidified the team’s position, but there was no let up on the suppleness with which he found the angles. He opened up once he reached his century, unleashing two pulls off Sreesanth but fell in the 42nd over while trying a slash over the covers.His partner at the other end was all power. When Raina burst on to the scene two years back, a few experienced bowlers who faced his onslaught were reminded of a young Yuvraj Singh dismantling attacks. Today he capitalised on the bowlers’ errant line, doling out a large share of wide deliveries, as he slashed with stinging venom. Field placements were rendered redundant with Raina finding gaps at will and packing his strokes with far too much power for anyone to have a chance. He was unlucky to miss out on his century, falling to a moment of impetuosity while trying to loft Piyush Chawla, the legspinner, over long-off, and left the rest to cash in on the momentum.The last five overs, though, produced just 27 runs as India A partly frittered away a great chance to reach 300. But Uthappa’s blitz might have made any total look paltry. Just one stat warning before the final: the last seven Challenger Trophy matches at Mohali have ended in victory for the chasing side and neither captain might want to bat first tomorrow.

India ADheeraj Jadhav lbw b Bhandari 2 (2 for 1)
Gautam Gambhir c Patel b Sreesanth 10 (30 for 2)
VVS Laxman c Shukla b Sreesanth 110 (217 for 3)
Dinesh Karthik c Shukla b Bhandari 11 (233 for 4)
Suresh Raina c Patel b Chawla 97 (233 for 5)
VRV Singh lbw b Chawla 0 (233 for 6)
Manoj Tewari c Chawla b Bose 9 (255 for 7)
Lakshmipathy Balaji c Uthappa b Bose 4 (260 for 8)
India BShikhar Dhawan run out (Tewari) 40 (148 for 1)
Dinesh Mongia lbw b Nadeem 44 (235 for 2)
Robin Uthappa c Jadhav b VRV Singh 116 (254 for 3)

More good news for Muralitharan who can start bowling immediately© Getty Images

Muttiah Muralitharan has been cleared to bowl again by his Australian surgeon and may yet be able to make Sri Lanka`s tour of New Zealand which starts next month (Dec 21). It had been feared that the offspinner Muralitharan, 32, would not be available until late January as he recovered from surgery to his right shoulder carried out in August by his Australian surgeon, Dr David Young.But, after flying to Melbourne for a consultation and receiving the all-clear from Dr Young, Muralitharan can start bowling immediately. “He could start bowling, gradually increasing the frequency for the next month,” the manager Kushil Gunasekera is quoted as saying on the foxsports.com website.Muralitharan’s comeback date will ultimately depend on his progress, and he will probably be urged to err on the side of caution and not rush back into action.He has not bowled for three months since pulling out of the second Test against South Africa after the build-up of a painful cyst around the nerves in his shoulder. Young drained the cyst and cleaned up some of the cartilage around the joint. And, despite being out of bowling action, he has stepped up his weights work at the gym.Meanwhile, the legspinner Upul Chandana will undergo medical tests in Singapore for an unnamed ailment.

Khaled Mashud, the Bangladesh wicketkeeper, had a thumb shattered byBrett Lee as Australia drubbed Bangladesh in the first one-dayer onSaturday. Mashud has been ruled out of the next two games in the three-matchone-day series.Lee produced fiery pace, even though he claimed he was not aiming forexceptional speed. Lee (4-25) and Gillespie (3-23) had too much pace andguile for the inexperienced tourists, who never threatened to make acompetitive score. Lee, although well short of the 160-km-per-hour (99-mile) an hour pace he achieved earlier this year, was pleased with hisform. “It’s a pretty good wicket, it had some bounce and carry and itwas a pleasure to bowl on,” he said. “It felt like the rhythm was thereand it felt like it all came together at once. I wasn’t even trying tobowl fast, I was trying to get my action nice and high and get the ballthrough to wicketkeeper Adam Gilchrist.”Dav Whatmore, Bangladesh’s coach, had high praise for the quality ofLee’s bowling. “We saw some magnificent pace bowling,” he said. “It wasquite exceptional.” He agreed Bangladesh faced a challenge in regroupingfor the second one-day encounter at Cairns on Sunday. “If we can weatherthat storm (Lee’s opening assault) and have a few of our batters intact,we’ve got a chance of posting a reasonably competitive total,” he said.

Auckland pace bowler, Chris Drum, has been called into the CLEAR Black Caps as cover for the injured Daryl Tuffey.Tuffey strained his hamstring while bowling against Australia in the first innings of the second Test currently being played in Hobart.Manager Jeff Crowe says it’s a sad blow for Tuffey.”Daryl’s been waiting for his chance on this tour and I have to say I really feel for the guy,” he said.The selectors preferred Chris Drum over James Franklin because of his ability to bowl into the wind.”In Perth the wind tends to blow down the ground.”If required we think Chris Drum, rather than James Franklin, is the better option for bowling extended spells into the wind,” says Chairman of Selectors, Sir Richard Hadlee who is in Hobart.Tuffey will not bowl again in the second Test and will most likely require a runner when batting.His injury will be reassessed tomorrow and a decision will then be made as to whether he is fit enough to be in contention to play in the third Test.If not, he will return home at the end of this Test.Drum will fly to Perth tomorrow and meet with the side before the start of the third Test.

Bruno Guimaraes is unlikely to make his full Newcastle United debut against Brentford this coming weekend, according to journalist Jordan Cronin. 

The lowdown

Newcastle are set to travel to the Brentford Community Stadium to face their relegation rivals on Saturday afternoon.

Guimaraes, whose arrival from Lyon was confirmed on the penultimate day of the January transfer window, was the most expensive of Newcastle’s mid-season arrivals at £40m. Indeed, The Athletic’s Chris Waugh dubbed the Brazilian PIF’s first ‘marquee signing’ since taking over on Tyneside.

The 24-year-old made Eddie Howe’s matchday squad for the last three Premier League games against Everton, Aston Villa and West Ham, but was only given very brief substitute appearances in each.

The latest

Newcastle World journalist Cronin took to Twitter on Monday evening to share a link to an article for that publication, stating: “There will come a time when #NUFC introduce Bruno G into their starting XI – but it isn’t likely to be Brentford.”

In his attached piece for Newcastle World, he explained that the midfield trio of Jonjo Shelvey, Joelinton and Joe Willock are simply looking ‘undroppable’ at present, with the £40m January signing set to be left ‘frustrated’ once more in west London on Saturday.

The verdict

Howe admits that Guimaraes will likely be ‘frustrated’ with his lack of starts, having been afforded so little time on the pitch so far, but it’s worth stressing that it’s very early days for the 24-year-old at Newcastle.

The manager expects the Brazilian midfielder to be a ‘huge player’ this season, and beyond that, he could well be one of the players around whom Newcastle build their team for the long-term. After all, he is still quite young and is under contract for a full four-and-a-half years.

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Perhaps we should expect to see Guimaraes steadily increase his minutes from the bench (he has come on after the 87th minute in each game so far) before Howe throws in him from the start, although injury to any one of the currently preferred midfield three could also open the door for the £40m man to eventually get his full Magpies debut.

In other news, Dean Jones refuses to rule out one potential ‘unbelievable’ signing for NUFC

Sachin Tendulkar is yet to confirm his retirement plans © Getty Images

In a new twist to the Sachin Tendulkar retirement story it has emerged that he is yet to make an official statement on the issue. A news agency quoted Tendulkar on Thursday as saying he had not thought about retirement but the Indian team’s administrative manager, Rajeev Shukla, confirmed on Friday that the quotes were not from the player.”That was my statement on Tendulkar’s behalf,” Shukla, also a vice-president of the Indian board, said while referring to the denial. “Tendulkar hasn’t spoken officially to anyone. It was wrongly reported as Tendulkar’s quotes.”Tendulkar’s statement sought to end speculation over his retiring from one-day cricket after India’s home engagements against Australia and Pakistan later this season. It followed a story reported by Cricinfo on Wednesday, quoting sources close to Tendulkar, that he was inclined to announce his retirement on this tour of England but had been persuaded by friends to do so at home.The confusion also stemmed from the post-match press conference at The Oval. Rahul Dravid was asked to comment on reports that Tendulkar had planned to retire and had been talked out of it by his team-mates. His answer was brief: “False reports.”

Pitched battle: Steve Harmison feels England have the edge as they’ve played here before © Getty Images

Steve Harmison feels England will have a “slight advantage” in Saturday’s crucial encounter against Australia at Jaipur as they’re accustomed to the pitch that will be used. Asserting that he didn’t look at the contest as a prelude to the Ashes, Harmison added that Australia’s defeat last night wouldn’t alter England’s plans too much.The game, which neither team can afford to lose, will be played on the same surface on which England crumbled for 125 against India. The curator at the Sawai Mansingh Stadium felt that the track wouldn’t be as dry as it was the previous Saturday, adding that the Sri Lanka-Pakistan clash – when Pakistan chased 254 and won – could be used as a template.Harmison, though, felt England would just have the edge. “I think it would be a slight advantage if we play on the same wicket,” he said. “I don’t know what the schedule is and what wicket we’re playing on, but if we play on that wicket, we’ll have a slight, slight advantage. Australia haven’t played on it but at the end of the day they’re good players and they can adapt to any surface. As I said, it’s just a advantage.”While revealing he’d struggled to locate the channel that was showing the Australia-West Indies game, Harmison didn’t want to read too much into the game. “We all know what their weaknesses are,” he said, “we’ve played against them often enough, we’ve seen them on TV often enough. We’ve had two days’ preparation, a day off yesterday, something you need to calm yourself after five days in a row.”Would England’s tactics change after watching Australia? “Not really,” he said, “I think a few field placements. I can’t imagine we’ll bowl any differently to Ponting, Gilchrist, Martyn than we planned before. Just because West Indies beat them yesterday, it won’t change the way England performed. I think West Indies played well yesterday. Anybody can beat anybody on any given day. Bangladesh beat Australia last summer and West Indies have looked a good, compact unit for a while now. And they played great last night. I think they won’t be anymore fired up or we any less fired up when they come up against us on Saturday.”Harmison didn’t want to be drawn into discussions about Ashes preludes – he preferred to stick to a simple “No” – but said his training was definitely geared towards the events in Brisbane on November 23. “I’d be lying if I said it wasn’t [thinking of the Ashes]. I’m not going to sit here and talk bullshit about we haven’t got one eye on the Ashes. Because we have. Everybody’s got one eye on the Ashes, you have as well.”Everybody’s looking ahead to the big occasion. But we’re here to do a job, here to win a competition and if there’s any more spice into it then, whoever loses on Saturday goes out. I’d be lying to say we haven’t got one eye on Australia on the 23rd November but we need to win this game to go forward in this competition. Hopefully we’ll do it on Saturday.”But wasn’t it the Twenty20 clash at the Rose Bowl that kicked off the whole Ashes campaign last time around? “As I’ve said before, the Twenty20 was the start of 10-12 weeks of hard cricket in England,” he said. “It was the same environment, same pitches, same conditions. At the end of the day, you’re playing in India, it’s a one-offgame and I imagine 15-20% of the players who’ll play on Saturday will not be involved in Brisbane on the 23rd of November. They aren’t in the Ashes Test squad.”At the end of the day we’ve got 11 match-winners and that’s what we realise. Any one of them on any given day can win a match for England. If any one of them puts up their hand and makes a match-winning contribution, we can end up beating Australia.”

Testing times: Ricky Ponting’s leadership is under pressure © Getty Images

Ricky Ponting launched a spirited defence of his leadership ahead of the fifth Test, where anything less than a win will end Australia’s 16-year grip on the Ashes. Heavily criticised during the series, Ponting took the unusual step of saying it would be “unfair” to blame him if Australia handed back the urn.England start with a 2-1 lead at The Oval tomorrow and Ponting, who faces the biggest challenge of his captaincy career, said he was doing his best. “It would be unfair if it was my fault if we lost this Ashes series,” he told . “If it came back on me I’ll accept it.”I’m the captain and leader of the side, but I’m not batting out there for everybody and I’m not bowling for everybody either. I’m doing the best I can, I’m sure the other guys are trying their best but we just haven’t put it all together yet.”Australia have struggled with key players such as Matthew Hayden, Damien Martyn, Adam Gilchrist and Jason Gillespie out of form against a sustained England attack. However, Ponting has come under pressure for fielding first in the second Test and not being able to lift his side, apart from at Old Trafford when his exceptional century helped snatch a draw. He was also fined for his outburst following his run-out at Trent Bridge.”I said as early as the second Test I probably wasn’t as sharp at changing momentum at different times and being as defensive when I needed to be,” Ponting said. “You go in on what you think is right at the time. I’m not a great one at looking back and analysing previous Test matches or previous innings and picking out what I’ve done well or what I haven’t done well because I actually feel I’m doing the right things at the right times in the game.”Ponting said he had spoken about a lot of plans to bowlers during overs in the hope they would execute them. “If they can’t, well, it might look as if I’m doing something wrong,” he said. “But I’ve made it clear in this game that I want to communicate as much as I can to the bowlers so we’re exactly clear on what we do. If that means we take a bit of time between overs then that’s the way it will be.”Preparing for a match that could scar him as the captain who lost the Ashes, Ponting said he had never sat back and taken all the accolades for his team during their wildly successful periods. “I’ve always shared all that around and never taken any of the great results we’ve had,” he said.In his column for Ponting wrote that his side would approach the Test like a one-day decider. “We haven’t played great cricket leading into it, but we’ve won enough games to make it to the final match,” he said. “Should we get it right at The Oval like we did in the one-day series in July, then we will take the Ashes home.”We will be aggressive at The Oval. We’ll attack because that’s the way we play our best cricket. We won’t be sitting back and hiding from anything. We will have one intention, and that is to win the Test match and take the Ashes back with us.” Despite what he says about blame, his reputation depends on it.

Mohammad Sami may miss the second Test because of a groin strain© AFP

Mohammad Sami has suffered a groin strain that is likely to keep him out of Pakistan’s second Test against Sri Lanka, beginning on October 28. The injury prevented him from taking the field on the fourth day of play in the ongoing first Test.”Sami has badly strained his inner groin muscle and he needs at least seven to eight days to fully recover,” said Haroon Rashid, Pakistan’s team manager. “Any decision on calling up a replacement for Sami would be taken after the first Test finishes.”