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Canada 250 for 9 dec and 250 for 4 dec (Dhillon 102*, Davison 78) drew with Bermuda 107 and 221 for 9 (Smith 53, Sandher 6-68)
Scorecard

John Davison’s aggressive 78 helped Canada pile on the runs in the second innings© Wisden Cricinfo

Canada narrowly failed to secure an outright win in their league match against Bermuda in Toronto, but a draw was still enough to win them a semi-final berth in the ICC Intercontinental Cup. Resuming their second innings on 91 for 2, Canada stretched their total to 250 for 4 before declaring, setting Bermuda an improbable victory target of 394. A more achievable goal for them was to bat out the rest of the day and achieve a draw, which they just about managed to do, scoring 221 for 9.Canada’s second-innings total was largely the result of Haninder Dhillon’s unbeaten 102 and John Davison’s 78. Davison spanked his runs off just 87 balls, hitting seven fours and four sixes. He was finally dismissed by Dwayne Leverock, but Dhillon continued the run-glut, adding 110 for the fourth wicket with Ashish Bagai, who contributed 31. Leverock finally ended the stand when he caught Bagai off his own bowling (239 for 4). Dhillon, meanwhile, went on to complete his hundred off 138 balls, and the declaration came soon after.With 15 points already in the bag from the match, Canada needed only two more to go past USA and secure a place in the semi-finals of the competition. They did that when Bermuda’s fourth wicket fell, at 83. Clay Smith held the batting together with his 63, as Bermuda put up a much-improved performance in the second innings. Kevin Sandher, a left-arm spinner, ran through the lower order, finishing with 6 for 68, but the last-wicket pair of Jekon Edness and Kevin Hurdle offered stubborn resistance, and were undefeated at the close to ensure a draw.Canada join Scotland, the top team from Europe, in the semi-final stage of the competition. One team each from Asia and Africa will join them for that leg, which will be held in Sharjah in November.

The Sri Lankan cricket board has announced a change to England’s winter tour schedule. It had earlier been agreed that three one-day internationals would take place in the second half of November, followed by three Tests in December, but now a change of venue has become necessary.Colombo had been expected to stage all the matches, except for the first Test at Galle, but that will now change following the recent election of Thilanga Sumathipala as board president. He is known to favour the Rangiri Stadium in Dambulla, which is situated to the north of the country and is not subjected to the same heavy rains that can affect venues in Colombo.The stadium was embroiled in financial and land-leasing disputes following its inaugural match on England’s last tour in 2001, but it recently came into its own during the triangular series against Pakistan and New Zealand, staging the whole tournament after Colombo was affected by floods.

Just minutes after seeing his side cruise to a nine wicket victory over wooden spoonists Essex, Somerset Coach told me, “We were very very good. On a flat wicket at Chelmsford the boys did well to bowl them out twice.”He went on, “Jamie Cox’s innings was the best that I have seen him bat, and he received good support from Rob Turner, with Richard Johnson and Jason Kerr bludgeoning important runs at the end.”What was the situation regarding the Championship runner’s up position I asked him.The coach said, “It looks like the Kent game will end in a draw, which means that we need six points from our final match next week to be certain of second place. This will leave Kent needing twenty points from their last match at Old Trafford, which is a tall order.”

ScorecardKumar Sangakkara’s hundred helped propel Surrey to a winning total•PA Photos

Classy hundreds from Steven Davies and Kumar Sangakkara propelled Surrey to a 77-run victory over Derbyshire in a high-scoring Royal London Cup match at Guildford.A crowd of 3000 saw some rich entertainment as Davies and Sangakkara added 204 in 31 overs for Surrey’s second wicket to set the hosts on their way to 326 for 6. Wes Durston led the chase with a thrilling 129 from 98 balls, which contained five sixes and 16 fours, but no other Derbyshire batsman could give him much support and they were despatched for 249.Surrey were given a fine start by Jason Roy, who twice drove Mark Footitt wide of mid-on for fours in the paceman’s opening over on his way to a bright 24. Footitt then made one bounce at Roy to have him taken at the wicket in his fourth over but, from 40 for 1, the Surrey innings was then dominated by Davies and Sangakkara.The two left-handers built their partnership expertly, with Davies twice pulling Alex Hughes’ medium pace for six and Sangakkara beating his partner to three figures with a thrilling assault on Footitt when the paceman returned for his second spell.From successive balls, Sangakkara square drove Footitt for four before flicking him over the midwicket ropes for two sixes. And spectators were on their feet again in the next over, when Davies pushed a ball from offspinner Durston to deep cover to complete his own hundred from 96 balls, two less than it had taken the Sri Lankan.Sangakkara scored 109 from 104 balls, with two sixes and nine fours, before he was stumped off the bowling of Durston – and Surrey lost another four wickets while adding a further 82 runs.Rory Burns fell for 11, mishitting a full toss from Hughes to extra cover, and Davies was held on the deep midwicket boundary off the same bowler after an enterprising 115 from 117 balls, taking his competition tally to 351 runs at an average of 87.75.Footitt had Tom Curran caught at deep cover for 29 in the closing stages and Gary Wilson lofted Ben Cotton to long off to depart for 2 in the final over – but Zafar Ansari scored a useful unbeaten 25 as Surrey posted their highest List A total against Derbyshire. It was a chastening 10 overs with the ball for Footitt, the left-arm fast bowler who has been added to England’s fourth Ashes Test squad, and his final figures were 2 for 86, with his second spell of three overs costing 38 runs as Davies and Sangakkara cut loose.Derbyshire’s openers then enjoyed a stand of 115, although Billy Godleman contributed just 27 to that as Durston quickly stole the limelight. Chesney Hughes, Wayne Madsen and Shiv Thakor also fell cheaply but Durston continued to pile on the runs, passing the hundred mark in 74 balls.He had just swung his fifth six, over wide long-on off Tom Curran, when two balls later he tried to repeat the stroke and skied to Curran’s younger brother, Sam – who took a well-judged catch at midwicket.Durston’s exit left Derbyshire on 203 for 5 and their lower order quickly fell away. Scott Elstone made 39 in a late cameo but no one else troubled the scorers as Surrey allrounder James Burke finished with a one-day career-best of 5 for 28.

In a day and age where transfer fee’s are continuing to soar upwards each year signing a player for a relatively small sum of money and watching him turn in performances that outstrip those of a £30 million pounder is a glorious sight. In the midst of these over expensive footballers there have been a few cheap gems to wade through the crowd and make a name for themselves in the Premier League. Looking back over 20 years of England’s top flight, players bought for something like £3 million,which was still considered a huge fee back in the early nineties, who went on to become legends and the focal point of success during their time at the club aren’t as common anymore.

There is nothing more satisfying then seeing your club sign a relative unknown for a nominal fee and watch him tear the Premier League up like he’s prowled the football fields of England for years. Over the years there have been some unbelievable footballers who have commanded a few that pales in comparison to what some modern day players earn in a month. Unearthing an unpolished jewel for peanuts and polishing it into an 24 carat diamond isn’t as common as it used to be and you could say that some of the romance that used to exist in football is lost because of that.

But lets not get lost in the doom and gloom of all that and celebrate the top ten cheap Premier League revelations that have cropped up over the years.

Click on Ole Gunnar Solksjaer to reveal the top 10

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England Under-19 fast bowlers Sam Curran and Saqib Mahmood took two and four wickets respectively to help dismiss West Indies Under-19 for 221 and complete a 61-run victory in Chittagong. Curran began the defence of 282 in splendid fashion, dismissing Tevin Imlach and no. 3 Shimron Hetmyer for ducks in the first over of the West Indies chase. The other opener Gidron Pope made 60 out of the team’s first 84 runs at a run a ball before he was dismissed in the 18th over. The only other innings of substance came from the no. 7 Keemo Paul, who made 65 off 58 deliveries. Mahmood ran through the lower order and West Indies were all out in 43.4 overs.England had relied on a collective performance to post 282 for 7 after winning the toss, their second successive imposing total of the tournament. Opener Dan Lawrence was impressive again, making 55, while Callum Taylor top scored with 59. Jack Burnham made 44 and George Bartlett 48, and Curran also contributed 39 off 36 balls at no. 6 before wrecking the start of the chase.Fiji Under-19 suffered another massive defeat in their second match of the World Cup, losing by seven wickets to Zimbabwe Under-19 in Chittagong, two days after a 299-run thrashing against England. This time Fiji batted first and were shot out for 81 in 27.4 overs, with only three batsmen making double-figure scores and no one getting past 20. Offspinner Wesley Madhevere began his tournament with figures of 5 for 24, while legspinner Blessing Mavuta claimed 3 for 13 in Zimbabwe’s victory.Zimbabwe made short work of the chase, getting to 84 in 18.5 overs but lost three wickets in doing so. They were 27 for 2 at one stage. However, opener Brendan Sly made an unbeaten 29, while Jeremy Ives scored 23 off 26 balls, to seal victory. Medium-pacer Josaia Baleicikoibia took 2 for 19 for Fiji.The Namibia Under-19 bowlers dismissed Scotland Under-19 for 159 in Cox’s Bazar after which their top-order batsmen polished off the chase in 26 overs with nine wickets in hand. After winning the toss, Scotland lost their opener Jack Waller to Fritz Coetzee off the first legal ball of the game and never really recovered. They slumped from 59 for 2 to 97 for 8, before their last two wickets propped them up to 159 before they were all out in 36.3 overs. Owais Shah’s 39 at No.3 was Scotland’s top score, while Michael van Lingen took 3 for Namibia.Unlike Scotland, Namibia had a strong start to their chase, with their openers adding 95 in 15.3 overs. Niko Davin fell for 52 off 37 balls, while SJ Loftie-Eaton was unbeaten on 67 when the winning runs were hit with 144 balls to spare. He had added 67 for the second wicket with his captain Zane Green, who was unbeaten on 39 off 42 balls.

Australia are still unsure whether Michael Clarke will be fit for their opening Twenty20 match © Getty Images

Australia are not expecting their Twenty20 group matches in Cape Town to be dominated by batsmen as the damp conditions could swing things back in favour of the bowlers. They are also still deciding on their starting line-up for the opening match against Zimbabwe, with concerns over Shane Watson and Michael Clarke.Tim Nielsen, the coach, said Australia’s warm-up games at Benoni and Centurion were useful but were not an accurate guide to how Cape Town would play in early-season conditions. The city had more than 100 millimetres of rain in August and showers were expected this week.”It’s going to be a heavy ground, heavy air and damp conditions,” Nielsen told . “You certainly notice how quick the ball comes off the bat up here [in Johannesburg] it just flies, so that will be different. And if it’s going to seam around and swing a bit it’s certainly going to put the balance in the favour of the bowlers so it will be a different game to what we’ve played over the last couple of days.”Australia beat New Zealand and lost to South Africa in their practice matches, although they were well below full strength with Ricky Ponting and Shane Watson only arriving on Monday, Clarke struggling with a lower abdominal strain and Matthew Hayden suffering back spasms. Although he is jetlagged Ponting is preparing to play against Zimbabwe early Thursday morning (Australian time) and Hayden is also expected to line up. Clarke remains in doubt and Watson’s hamstring injury might mean he is rested until the group stage is over.Nielsen said even in the shortest version of the game, all 11 players needed to be ready for action. “You’ve got to be ready for a couple of wickets to fall in succession,” he said. “Every now and again and you’ve got to be willing to hold your nerve and not panic at that time.”He said there might be advantages to batting second in Twenty20, although the key was keeping calm regardless of what stage the game was at. “It certainly gives you a clear idea of where you’re going when you’ve got a target to chase,” Nielsen said. “If you lose a few early wickets, you might overdo it a little bit when you’re batting first, thinking you need a bigger target.”

Tatenda is now wearing the colours of Namibia rather than Zimbabwe © Getty Images

Tatenda Taibu, the former Zimbabwe captain, has made his debut for Namibia in the SAA Provincial Cup match against Limpopo in Windhoek.In recent weeks there has been speculation about Taibu’s playing future after an attempt to forge a career in South Africa hit problems. Discussions with Namibia have been ongoing for a couple of weeks and a few days ago the final parts of the agreement were confirmed.Francoise Erasmus, a spokesman for the team, told Cricinfo: “He will be with our squad for the remainder of the season. It is something we have been discussing for a while and Tatenda seems very excited by the situation.”His wife is moving over the join him next week and we are keen to make it a long term arrangement. It would be terrific to have someone of his quality.”However, any thoughts of an international return will still have to wait. Erasmus confirmed there are a number of ways Taibu could try and qualify, but it would take five years of living in Namibia for him to qualify to play international tournaments.Namibia are part of the SAA provincial Cup as an invitational side so the same qualification rules don’t apply meaning Taibu is eligible to slot straight into the team, a situation that has been agreed by Cricket South Africa. Taibu started with 21, batting at No.3, as Namibia eased to a 168-run win.

David Hussey’s stunning season has pushed Notts to the top of the table © Getty Images

While rain made the fifth Ashes Test its biggest casualty, poor weather also tried to hamper the Australians in teams pushing for County Championship honours or fighting to avoid relegation. Lancashire managed to avoid any serious interruptions to seal promotion back into Division One, and with only two rounds until the end of the season David Hussey’s Nottinghamshire are favourites for the main trophy ahead of Sussex and Kent.Notts gave themselves a ten-point boost at the top of the table with impressive help from Hussey in a two-day innings-and-54-run victory over Gloucestershire at Trent Bridge. Hussey stroked 157 from 187 balls in a sparkling innings that included 27 fours and three sixes. It was Hussey’s third century of a season that has produced 1220 runs at 76.25, and his fine effort was matched by Mark Ealham, who twice knocked into Gloucestershire with nine wickets.Middlesex, who were without the Australia A bowler Stuart Clark in the draw with Kent, are battling with Surrey and Warwickshire to miss the three-team relegation. The demotions of Gloucestershire and Glamorgan have already been confirmed.Boosted by a two-pronged Australian contingent, Lancashire earned Division-Two promotion with an eight-wicket victory over Essex at Chelmsford. Symonds made 98 from 135 balls – his Championship scores since joining after Australia’s one-day series are 134, 45, 121, 146, 1, 37, 4 and 98 – and Law added 14 and 13 not out after Murali Kartik collected ten wickets for the match. Lancashire are the first team to be promoted while Durham and Yorkshire currently hold the crucial second and third spots.Ian Harvey grabbed three wickets and scored 11 as the weather hindered Yorkshire’s push against Worcestershire at Headingley. Only five overs were possible on the final day as Yorkshire desperately tried to haul in their target of 203. When the match was abandoned they were 2 for 125 from 25 overs.Rain ruined the Northamptonshire v Somerset match at Taunton after three innings with the visitors on top. Martin Love contributed 14 and Damien Wright 71 as Northants cruised to 574 with centuries to Usman Afzaal and David Sales, while the home side managed 396 and 4 for 163 before rain intervened to force an early finish. Wright had a memorable match with seven wickets to go with his fourth Championship half-century of the year.Derbyshire confirmed they would finish last with a draw against Leicestershire that was limited to two innings because of the weather. Jon Moss managed 14 as Derbyshire were dismissed for 190 chasing the opposition’s 6 declared for 552 at Grace Road.

Glenn McGrath: a 500% increase in confidence in a matter of a day© Getty Images

An elated Glenn McGrath is completely satisfied with his fitness and has declared himself “ready to go” for the first Test series against Sri Lanka. McGrath had gone into the tour game, between the Northern Territory Chief Minister’s XI and the Sri Lankans, under plenty of pressure after a less than satisfactory performance in the one-dayers in Zimbabwe.Though McGrath finished with modest figures of 1 for 25 in his 14 overs in the second innings, he was happy with the rhythm that he found. “I’m a lot more confident now than what I was before this match here. That’s the best my ankle has felt and the best I’ve hit the crease for the last two-and-a-half years and to me that was the secret to me bowling well.”McGrath also added a bit about his confidence levels, which seemed to have shot up exponentially. “My confidence is, yesterday morning compared to now, it’s 500% better. I’m so much more confident and couldn’t be happier at the moment.”Justin Langer, who captained the Chief Minister’s XI, revealed that he spoke a lot to McGrath before the game and adviced him to be a little patient. “I was really keen to encourage him and just tell him to be patient because he has got a bit down on himself. Again he is human and he probably hasn’t played much in 12 months. His confidence is down a little bit which happens to everyone, and probably never really happened to him throughout his whole career.”Langer termed McGrath’s performance as “fantastic” for most of the game, and said he would believed it wouldn’t be long before he was back to his best. “It’s like a Rolls Royce,” he added, “you’ve got to be a bit patient, get the oil going, I thought he just looked fantastic for this almost the whole game.”And he even suggested that McGrath should be given the new ball by adding, “If I was [Ponting], I’d give him the new ball. The boys get here tomorrow so no doubt we’ll talk about it. I just thought he looked as you always expect Glenn McGrath to bowl.”