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The England and Wales Cricket Board has denied reports that Ottis Gibson, England’s bowling coach, is to resign his role and take up a position as coach of the West Indies.This was in response to a report on the Radio Jamaica website which claimed that the station had been “reliably informed” that Gibson “is set to arrive in time to take up the job before South Africa’s tour of the Caribbean in May.” The report also stated that David Williams, the current West Indies coach who took over on an interim basis after John Dyson’s exit, is to be Gibson’s deputy.But an ECB spokesman told :”We are certainly not aware of this and no deal has been agreed.”Gibson, 40, played two Tests and 15 one-day internationals for West Indies before his nomadic career took him to Glamorgan, Staffordshire, and three South African provincial sides. Frustrated by niggling injuries, he took up coaching and found work with the ECB before returning to the game with Leicestershire in 2004. He then moved to Durham for two successful seasons before his retirement in 2007, and was named as England’s bowling coach for the tour of Sri Lanka that autumn. He was credited for playing a major part in England’s Ashes success last summer.

England women have beaten India women in the Women’s Cricket World Series atLincoln, New Zealand today by 90 runs in the play off for third and fourthplace.The win means England move up the world rankings, from their position offifth at the last world cup in 2000, to third.England Captain, Clare Connor speaking after the match said “it wasfantastic to beat India by such a convincing margin today after yesterday’svictory off the last ball. Our overall game was excellent today withKathryn Leng batting superbly for 80. We have discussed the need to post190 plus as a winning total.The bowlers then bowled aggressively, and straight, as we have talked aboutand the whole team effort in the field was first class. As it turned out,today’s game was the most important match of the tournament for us becausewe had a chance to move up the rankings to third in the world; and we tookthat opportunity”.England won the toss and elected to bat, having defended a winning score of208 against India team. Today, England were all out for 191; Kathryn Lengmaking 80 from 109 balls, her highest one-day score for England. Indiamissed two chances to run her out, when she was on 25 and again on 38, butLeng remained composed and drove the Indian attack with power, particularlywhen her half century was secure.England reached their 150 in the thirty-fifth over with 3 wickets down,having seen off a feisty opening spell of pace bowling from Goswami, theplayer who had missed the chance to score the winning run in yesterday’sgame which England won by one run.The experienced spinner Neetu David, who together with Al-Khadir rippedthrough the England middle order once Arran Thompson had been run out threeovers later, eventually bowled Leng. David bowled England Captain, ClareConnor for 2; Al-Khadir had Laura Newton stumped by Naik for 4 and bowledDawn Holden for 6.With England on 164-8, a recovery was led by England’s leading wicket takerClare Taylor and Laura Harper, who put on 24 before Taylor was run out for14. Taylor’s batting has improved considerably in recent years, and she haspassed her previous highest one-day score twice in this Series following asuccessful spell of top order batting with NZ state side Otago this winter.Following her elegant innings of 98 yesterday, England knew they needed toremove Mithali Raj, and with opener Paranjpe trapped lbw by Pearson in thefirst over, Raj and Sharma set about building a platform. Pearson wasunlucky to take just one wicket in a blisteringly quick opening seven-overspell which yielded just 18 runs and saw two catches dropped.But it was a day for the spinners, as Laura Harper and Clare Connor bowledin tandem to inflict irrevocable damage on India’s batters. Connor hadSharma caught and fellow Captain, Chopra, lbw. Harper gained the prizedwicket of Raj as the batsman attempted to sweep her, having found runs thesame way from the previous delivery but deceived by extra flight.At 55-4 and with Raj gone, England knew they couldn’t be caught and setabout achieving a comprehensive victory. With miserly bowling from Collyerin particular, India didn’t ever trouble the run rate. Only the ‘keeper,Naik, showed any resistance, reaching 23 before the ever reliable Taylortook a sharp catch from Harper’s bowling. India were 90-9 and added justeleven more runs before Collyer bowled Goswami for the second time in twodays to end India’s innings and ensure England the victory.

Scorecard and ball-by-ball details
How they were outInevitably, Mahela Jayawardene got to double-century No. 6•AFP

Mahela Jayawardene ground the Indian bowlers into the Ahmedabad dust, almost ruling out a defeat for Sri Lanka in the first Test. This was only the second time that Sri Lanka took a first-innings lead in India, and only the first time they crossed 450 in the country. Jayawardene’s sixth double-century, and twelfth 150, was one of his easier ones because for more than half his innings India didn’t try to take his wicket, and only towards the end was he made to work hard for singles. The bowlers were not helped by the slowness of the pitch and the indiscipline of the spinners, who managed just one wicket in 102 overs, that too a dodgy decision against Angelo Mathews.Jayawardene was supported by Thilan Samaraweera in the first session, Prasanna Jayawardene in the second and third, and by muddled thinking from India in both. Their fast bowlers couldn’t generate any swing, conventional or reverse, but still looked the only ones capable of making things happen. The only blip for Sri Lanka came when Samaraweera was set up by Zaheer Khan and dismissed by Ishant Sharma, but Jayawardene had started assuredly, and never gave India a serious look-in. Despite that Mathews wicket to what turned out to be the last ball before lunch, the Jayawardenes thwarted any hopes of a quick Indian comeback.Sri Lanka started the day 151 runs behind, knowing they needed a lead of at least 70 runs to compensate for having to bat last on a pitch that was turning. But the problem with that turn was its slowness, and both Jayawardene and Samaraweera negotiated it comfortably in the morning. India were made to bowl spinners for the first 10 overs before the new ball was due. And in a move that spoke a lot about their attitude, they came out in the containment mode, with a deep point for Harbhajan Singh. Not a single shot went there, and the fielder watched late-cuts from Jayawardene go to the third-man boundary.

Smart Stats

• Mahela Jayawardene reached his sixth score of 200 or above in Tests, joining Kumar Sangakkara, Marvan Atapattu and Javed Miandad. Ahead of him on that list are Don Bradman, Brian Lara and Wally Hammond.

• Jayawardene now has 12 scores of 150 or above; five players have exceeded that mark.

• Jayawardene’s 216-run stand with Prasanna Jayawardene is the highest for the sixth wicket for Sri Lanka. It was Jayawardene’s seventh stand of 200 or more in Tests.

• By scoring 591, Sri Lanka have equalled their fourth-highest score in away Tests. They are within striking distance of reaching their second-highest – 644. They’ve gone way past their previous best score in India, though, of 420.

• India’s spinners were taken for 372 runs in this innings; it’s third in the list of most runs conceded by an Indian spin attack since 2000 at home, and the record is likely to be overtaken tomorrow.

• Harbhajan Singh conceded 150 runs or more in an innings for the sixth time in Tests, and the second time against Sri Lanka.

The only blotch on Jayawardene’s morning came when Amit Mishra drew an edge from him, but the ball died on Rahul Dravid at slip. Twenty-nine runs and two maidens came in those first 10 overs, the last of which had Mishra beating Samaraweera with a googly and missing out on an lbw call. Both batsmen reached fifties during that spell, and brought up their ninth 100-run stand. That last over was about the best Mishra had bowled, but MS Dhoni went for pace from the 81st over.The sixth over with the new ball, bowled by Zaheer, was the best of the day from India’s perspective. He beat Samaraweera with an away-going delivery, got him into an uncertain position with a bouncer, and then hit him in the midriff with another. Ishant continued from there in the next over, beating him with one that held its line. And then came a pull shot Samaraweera would otherwise have kept along the ground, but was hurried into this time.Jayawardene made sure India wouldn’t feel too excited when, two overs later, he drove Zaheer for three boundaries in four balls: through mid-on, wide of midwicket, and through covers. The last one of those shots took Jayawardene to 74, Sri Lanka to within 78 of India’s total, and Zaheer out of the attack. The spinners came on soon, and failed to make an impact as Sri Lanka started to steadily push the accelerator.Prasanna looked to sweep Harbhajan, while runs kept coming effortlessly for Jayawardene. Dhoni spread the field, but Mishra and Harbhajan struggled to keep the same batsman on strike for a considerable period. Despite the defensive mindset, India could manage only four maidens in the first two sessions. India’s bowling was most insipid in the second session and the Jayawardenes capitalised fully. Without much fuss, Prasanna reached 42 by tea, and Jayawardene 142, another of his tons that seemed inevitable once he got in. By tea, the two had added 108 off 27.4 overs, 84 of which were run.Post tea, both sides called ceasefire. Dhoni got spinners to bowl from round the stumps with 6-3 leg-side fields, while the Jayawardenes didn’t seem interested in taking too many risks, and were happy scoring in ones and twos and occasional boundaries. In the 144th over of the innings, Sri Lanka ran their 200th single. In the 158th over, Zaheer bowled the 17th no-ball; and India had got only 21 runs from four of their top-six batsmen. While India managed to stem the run-flow in the final session – a total of 108 runs came in 36 overs – it didn’t help much because there were still two days left in the match, and Sri Lanka got closer and closer to not having to bat again.The senior Jayawardene didn’t let fatigue get the better of him and reached the double with two overs to go, while Prasanna took the opportunity to move towards what would be a risk-free second century.

Scorecard and ball-by-ball detailsAndrew Strauss gets his hands on the one-day series trophy after rain washed out the final match•Getty Images

It’s not how Andrew Strauss would have wanted to lead England to a bit of history, but he’ll gladly take it after rain forced the final one-day international at Durban to be abandoned and handed the tourists their first limited-overs series victory in South Africa.There was never a realistic chance of any action at Kingsmead. Hopes were briefly raised when the covers were removed at around 2.30pm, but the forecast rain soon returned to blanket the city in the dank, grey atmosphere that has been in place for most of the past week.As well as their first one-day success in the country, England have also become just the second team to beat South Africa on home soil in a bilateral one-day series after Australia managed it twice. That is a notable achievement for Strauss and Andy Flower considering that a little over two months ago they were turned over 6-1 by Australia.”It’s a big step forward for the group,” Strauss said. “To be only the second team to win out here is an achievement to be proud of. The players had to buy into trying to play a slightly more attacking brand of cricket and at the same time to up our fielding and to be more consistent with the ball.”I think the guys have enjoyed having the shackles taken off them to a certain extent. A lot of our one-day cricket over the last few years has been played like men under a lot of pressure. A lot of the players were under pressure, playing for their places and because the results weren’t very good.”It’s encouraging to know we are going in the right direction but I’d be the last person to say we’re the finished article.”The turnaround began at the Champions Trophy and has continued over the last three weeks. Playing in South Africa suits England’s new brand of one-day cricket and their next challenge in that format be to adapt to different conditions in Bangladesh in February. They are unlikely to find pitches with pace and bounce at the World Cup in 2011 so the next phase of their development is to show they can combat spin attacks of sluggish, turning pitches.Even though only three matches were actually played, this series success can still go down as one of England’s finest one-day performances in recent times, on a par with beating Sri Lanka in their backyard in 2008. At Cape Town they showed they still have the capability to pull out a shocker, but to cancel out that 112-run defeat, both their victories were by convincing seven-wicket margins – a run-chase of 251 that would previously have been beyond them at Centurion, and a victory set up by James Anderson’s bowling at Port Elizabeth.England’s 4-0 victory against South Africa at home last year is often pulled out when talking about impressive performances, but that was against a visiting side that had achieved their main target of a Test series victory and were ready to go home. This time there were early points to be scored – that’s the advantage of holding the one-dayers first – and England have done more than enough to quieten the hosts who were quite happy to make some bombastic statements in the build-up. The hosts certainly haven’t lived up to the hype.”Our next one-day series is in India where the [2011] World Cup is going to be played,” Graeme Smith said. “Hopefully by then we will have a fully-fit squad and a squad which has developed from here.”There’s a break now and there will be a few new faces in our [Test] squad,” he added. “The last two years have been really terrific for us in Test cricket and we want to carry it on. England have an Ashes-winning squad so it bodes well for a good series.”Attention now turns to preparation for the Test campaign. England head to East London for two two-day matches against a South African Invitational XI, where they will be joined by the Test-squad members who have been with the Performance Squad in Pretoria. South Africa, meanwhile, will reconvene in Potchefstroom on December 11 for a three-day camp before heading to Johannesburg ahead of the opening Test at Centurion. The battle is just hotting up.

Chris Gayle wants West Indies’ tour of Australia to be the new beginning the region desperately needs after another round of strikes and disputes. While Gayle was a key figure in the four-month boycott as the side’s captain, he is now charged with leading the reunification process that starts with the three-Test series of Australia.It won’t be easy as the old players mix with the new but one benefit of their marathon trip from the Caribbean to Brisbane, extended by half a day due to a delay in London, was that the 15-man squad has had plenty of bonding time. Before they departed the players spoke about leaving the distractions at home. While they were in the air Viv Richards was saying Gayle would have to change his attitude to show he wanted to be in charge.Gayle is one of the most targeted men in the game, mostly for his love of lucrative one-day leagues over Test cricket. Now he is hoping to focus on peace and unity. “That’s life,” he said of Richards’ comments. “I am trying to move on, it doesn’t make sense to fight with each other. That’s not the real cause to be here [in Australia].”While Gayle is so laidback – even when severely jet-lagged – that he makes hippies seem stressed, he could snap if the criticism continues from the big names back home. “Our main focus is to represent West Indies well,” he said after the side finally arrived in Brisbane on Friday afternoon. “The negativity, I won’t take it on too much unless something might trigger out a line, and then I’ll have to take it on, but that’s the situation. If that situation occurs we’ll deal with it at that point in time.”Since Gayle’s last Test in England in May, West Indies have lost at home to Bangladesh while the main players were on strike over the pay and contractual disputes. He arrived in England a couple of days before the opening match, preferring to boost his bank balance with more games in the IPL, and was soon back-tracking after saying he wouldn’t be so sad if Test cricket died.When asked on Friday what the series in the Caribbean last year – which Australia won 2-0 – meant, Gayle said he couldn’t remember much about it. The critics would say it showed his lack of interest in the game’s traditional format but he did miss two games of that campaign with a groin injury and his head has been in the clouds for most of the week.He does regret the damage caused by the strike that fractured an already split cricket region. “That’s the last thing we wanted to do, bring the game into disrepute,” he said. “Having said all that, it’s after. This is a new beginning and hopefully things can be better from here on in.”As captain Gayle is now working with David Williams, the coach, and Joel Garner, the manager, in moulding the group into a unified unit. However, he knows they are starting from behind following the Bangladesh defeat and their early exit at the Champions Trophy.”It set us back, to be honest,” Gayle said. “But at the same time we have to move forward, trying to forget about what happened in the past. We’re back to square one, it’s a rebuilding process right now. Even though we’re rebuilding we have a good chance of winning.”West Indies squad: Chris Gayle (capt), Adrian Barath, Sulieman Benn, Dwayne Bravo, Shivnarine Chanderpaul, Narsingh Deonarine, Travis Dowlin, Brendan Nash, Denesh Ramdin (wk), Ravi Rampaul, Kemar Roach, Darren Sammy, Ramnaresh Sarwan, Jerome Taylor, Gavin Tonge

Mountaineers moved to the top of the table in the Logan Cup with a 204-run win over Matabeleland Tuskers in Bulawayo.The first day didn’t go the way of the Mountaineers. They were bowled out for 203 after being sent in, and even that modest total was reached on the back of a 94-run eighth-wicket stand between Stuart Matsikenyeri and Shingirai Masakadza. Seven of their batsmen, including the top three, made single-digit scores. Chris Mpofu was the most successful of the bowlers, finishing with 4 for 39.Matabeleland’s batsmen, however, turned in an even limper performance. Unlike the Mountaineers they made a solid start, progressing to 74 for 1 before losing wickets in a heap. A stubborn 76-run association for the sixth wicket took them to 176 for 5, but they lost four wickets for three runs before being bowled out for 191.Mountaineers had made their way to a shaky 89 for 3 in their second innings before they took command through Hamiltion Masakadza’s 173. He was involved in three substantial stands, the biggest of which was 154 for the fifth wicket with Timycen Maruma.Faced with the tough target of 406, Matabeleland’s batting crumbled for the second time in the match. Maruma, not content with his match-changing partnership, sliced through the top order to leave them at reeling 46 for 6, a position from which there was no recovery.Mashonaland Eagles cruised to a huge win against Southern Rocks at the Country Club to go second in the points table. Ray Price was the star for the Eagles, picking up a five-for in the second innings and finishing with seven in the match, as the Rocks were crushed by 234 runs.It wasn’t the greatest of starts for the Eagles, after being put in by the opposition, and only the captain Elton Chigumbura’s watchful fifty helped them reach 207 for 8. But half-centuries from Trevor Garwe (58) and Admire Manyuma (61) ensured the tail wagged, and a 101-run partnership between the two helped them finish on an impressive 357.Chigumbura and Greg Lamb ensured there would be no fight during the Rocks’ first innings and both picked up three wickets apiece. Robertson Chiniyengetere’s fighting 55 though, ensured that the follow-on was avoided.The Eagles continued to pile on the pressure on the third day as wicketkeeper Forster Mutizwa searched for quick runs. He smashed eight fours and a six during his near run-a-ball 78, and even though Tafadzwa Kamungozi and Steve Tikolo tried their best to stifle the runs, Rocks were left needing 459 for victory.It was always going to be a difficult task, but with Steve Tikolo at the crease at stumps on day three, the Rocks had not given up hope. However, Tikolo could add only 19 when play resumed on the final day, becoming Price’s second victim. That opened the gates and Price was quick to account for the middle and lower orders, with Craig Ervine providing the only delay with a painstaking 61.

Kent have been promoted back to Division One of the County Championship after Essex and Glamorgan drew their match at Cardiff. It means Kent can’t be knocked off one of the two promotion slots and they bounce back the season after being relegated.They beat Middlesex by 10 wickets in another commanding display – their eighth win in 14 matches this season – after they racked up their second highest team total of 652 for 7 with a double century from Darren Stevens and an unbeaten hundred by Justin Kemp.”We’ve shown that we are the best side in the competition by quite a distance,” Kemp told the club website. “We only need a few points to win the league title but we aren’t thinking like that. We just want to round off the season in style now. If we win our remaining two matches then we will go up with a big points total.”We have batted well this season and put in our big performances when needed. It’s been a good season and we are all delighted to have gone straight back up.”Kent will secure the Division Two title if they beat Leicestershire, at Canterbury, this week. It has been a solid season for the club, who made the semi-finals of the Twenty20 Cup and are still in with a chance of claiming the Division Two Pro40 title.

Division Two

Robert Key pushed his claims for an England recall as he top-scored with 90 for Kent in an otherwise disappointing batting display against Northamptonshire at Wantage Road. Key held the top order together with his 134-ball innings, but after he was trapped leg before by Andrew Hall, Kent lost their last seven wickets for 74. However, for Key, the timing couldn’t have been better even if he did miss out on three figures. Monty Panesar, also vying for a recall, picked up two wickets – including former Northamptonshire man Martin van Jaarsveld, caught in the covers when the ball bounced off silly point’s leg – and Johan van der Wath collected two important middle-order scalps when he removed Sam Northeast and Darren Stevens. Kent did manage to hit back before the close, though, with Simon Cook removing Stephen Peters for 9.Promotion-chasing Derbyshire took control against Leicestershire at Grace Road as they dismissed the home side for 177. The problems began early when Steffan Jones removed Matt Boyce and Boeta Dippenaar for ducks – both to acrobatic catches – to leave Leicestershire on 9 for 2 and the innings struggled to recover. James Taylor top-scored with 45, but Greg Smith’s three wickets went through the middle order and Mark Lawson collected two with his legspin. Nathan Buck offered late resistance with an unbeaten 24, but Jones returned to clean up the tail and ended with 4 for 43. Derbyshire started solidly in reply, losing only Wayne Madsen before the close as they reached 67 for 1.Click here for Andrew McGlashan’s report from Lord’s, where Sam Robson hit his maiden first-class hundred for Middlesex against Essex.

Division One

Just like spare batsmen, there aren’t many names jumping out to fill the allrounder’s role for England but Luke Wright will be one of those mentioned. He claimed a timely five-wicket haul for Sussex as they dismissed Worcestershire on a greener-than-usual surface at Hove. His first wicket came when Vikram Solanki dragged on and he returned to take out the tail, ending some stubborn resistance from Gareth Batty who at least gave the scoreline some respectability. He also benefited from some safe catching with Andrew Hodd producing a diving take to remove Stephen Davies, while Gareth Andrew was well held at third man. It was another disappointing display from Worcestershire, with nine batsmen reaching double figures but no one passing Batty’s 46. However, the visitors fought back late in the day when Chris Nash pushed outside off stump and Ed Joyce played on against Andrew.Hampshire slipped from a strong position against Yorkshire in tricky batting conditions at Basingstoke as Ajmal Shahzad took three wickets in an over. The in-form Michael Carberry was caught in the gully after a positive start, but Jimmy Adams (79) and Michael Lumb (51) took the score to 119 for 1. Tim Bresnan broke through when he trapped Lumb and both James Vince and Liam Dawson were caught in the slips. Adams could make the most of being caught off a no-ball and fell at 220. Then Shahzad got to work, removing Dimitri Mascarenhas, Chris Tremlett and Tim Burrows in six balls as Yorkshire took the momentum.Click here for a full report from Nottinghamshire’s match against Warwickshire at Trent Bridge, where Chris Read hit a hundred.Click here for John Ward’s report from Old Trafford on the opening day between Lancashire and top-placed Durham.