Liverpool have been linked to a handful of players over the course of the transfer window, but only one signing has been made so far.

Fabinho agreed a switch to Anfield from Monaco with the hope of providing an anchor in midfield.

Naby Keita has also arrived this summer, but his transfer was struck with RB Leipzig a year ago.

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Most of the targets have either been players that would strengthen the midfield or would replace Loris Karius in goal.

One individual, who has also been linked to Tottenham Hotspur and Arsenal, is Max Meyer.

How far will England get in Russia? Tell us now and win any World Cup shirt of your choice.

The central midfielder, who is valued at £16.2m by Transfermarkt, will be available on a free transfer this summer having failed to agree a new contract with Schalke.

According to a recent report in Bild, Liverpool are among a handful of clubs that have rejected the chance to sign Meyer due to his wage demands.

It is believed that the 22-year-old is requesting a salary of more than £4m a year.

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Liverpool fans have been posting their reactions on social media.

The Manchester City fans in the Transfer Tavern are growing increasingly frustrated with their club’s lack of movement in the transfer market so far this summer following months of intense speculation linking them with moves for both Jorginho and Riyad Mahrez. 

The Breakdown

A fair assessment of Man City’s transfer window so far would detail a frustrating story of all bark and no bite. Pep Guardiola, Txiki Begiristain and the powers that be at Manchester City have been tasked with one of the most difficult tasks a Premier League club have ever faced: emulating the level of performance which saw the Citizens record a staggering 100 points during a single-season.

The club’s classy, well-spoken and forward-thinking chairman, namely Khaldoon Al Mubarak, has publicly emphasised the need to sign two, possibly three players of genuine quality this summer rather than adopting a gung ho scattergun approach to the market which the club have been guilty of utilising in the past.

Cue City’s well-documented interest in Riyad Mahrez – a player who possesses plenty of Premier League experience, a proven track-record, and both individual and collective awards to show for his immense ability.

However, negotiations between Leicester and Man City appear to have hit a stalemate recently as doubts begin to creep in regarding the willingness of the Premier League champions to meet the Foxes huge, but certainly justifiable asking price for one of the most tantalising talents on the continent.

With that in mind, Guardiola should focus his attention elsewhere and instead join the race for a player who should be easier to lure to the Etihad this summer, namely Lucas Vazquez of Real Madrid.

According to the Spanish media outlet Marca, Liverpool are interested in prising Vazquez away from the Spanish capital this summer, with both Arsenal and Chelsea also monitoring developments.

The report does not state how much Madrid would demand for his services, but it’s fair to say they would be expecting to make a huge profit on the £900k (as per Transfermarkt) the European champions paid to sign the 27-year-old from Espanyol in 2015.

Although Vazquez’s record of just 4 goals and 8 assists from 33 appearances last season – only 16 of which were starts – is modest in comparison with what Mahrez has been able to boast in recent years, City would undoubtedly be signing a player who fits the Guardiola mould.

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A hard working right-sided player by trade, Vazquez is well-suited to adapt to the high-press philosophy which Guardiola swears by and demands from his players to ensure possession is maximised at all times and, with a little extra focus on his finishing ability, there’s no reason why Vazquez cannot contribute at least 15 goals a season in the Premier League.

There’s no doubt that City are crying out for the addition of a new winger this summer and Mahrez appears to be the priority, but if they are unsuccessful in their pursuit of the Algerian ace then Vazquez could represent an ideal alternative to pursue, even if they must go head-to-head with a handful of Premier League rivals for his signature.

Man City fans – thoughts? Let us know below!

Andrew Symonds had a quiet day as Queensland held their lead at the top of the FR Cup with a 30-run victory in steamy Alice Springs

Cricinfo staff14-Nov-2009Queensland 6 for 266 (Reardon 83, Carseldine 68, Philipson 50*, Haberfield 3-38) beat South Australia 236 (Klinger 74, McDermott 3-39) by 30 runs

ScorecardCareer high: Nathan Reardon top scored for the Bulls as they accounted for the Redbacks•Queensland Cricket

Andrew Symonds had a quiet day as Queensland held their lead at the top of the FR Cup with a 30-run victory in steamy Alice Springs. While Symonds scored 4 and went wicket-less during his “one-off” comeback to the state’s 50-over side, the team’s 6 for 266 was set up by half-centuries to Nathan Reardon, Lee Carseldine and Craig Philipson.Michael Klinger’s 74 provided South Australia with a steady start in their reply, but they remained behind the required rate despite Dan Christian’s late surge to drag them from 7 for 169. When Christian fell for 46 off 35 balls the hosts, who had taken the match into the Northern Territory to promote the game, had run out of power.Nathan Rimmington was on a hat-trick when Christian and Shaun Tait both went to caught-behinds and the end came soon after with an over to spare. The result left Queensland with a comfortable buffer over the second-placed Victoria while the Redbacks are win-less after four matches. Alister McDermott continued his development with 3 for 39 and the captain Chris Simpson also collected three breakthroughs.As the temperature hovered around 40 degrees, the Bulls’ total was built by Reardon and Carseldine’s stand of 154 that lifted them from 2 for 19. Reardon started the season at the top of the order but slotted in at No. 4 and top scored with a career-high 83 off 125 balls. Carseldine’s 68 was important and Queensland were also thankful for Philipson’s display.After the Bulls stumbled to 5 for 189, Philipson belted 50 from 35 deliveries to finish the innings. Jake Haberfield was South Australia’s most productive bowler with 3 for 38, including the first two wickets, while Aaron O’Brien picked up 2 for 32.Symonds entered at No. 5 and stayed for three balls, starting with a boundary to mid-off from O’Brien, who watched the batsman hit to mid-on two deliveries later. He followed up with 0 for 48 from 10 overs and chipped in with three catches. Unless Queensland’s injury crisis continues Symonds’ next appearance will be during the domestic Twenty20 tournament.

Dwayne Bravo said Hauritz will be Australia’s main weapon but was confident West Indies had the batting might to chase a tall target

Brydon Coverdale at the WACA18-Dec-2009Nathan Hauritz looms as the key to Australia’s victory hopes in Perth, where West Indies will need to follow the lead of South Africa last year to chase a hefty fourth-innings target. Sulieman Benn found some sharp turn in the final session on the third day as Australia struggled to 8 for 137, and Hauritz will be searching for similar spin to trouble West Indies.Australia’s lead had grown to 345 by stumps but in the back of their minds will be the chase this time last year, when AB de Villiers and JP Duminy took South Africa to a monstrous target of 414 with only four wickets down. On that occasion, Australia’s spinner Jason Krejza leaked runs but Dwayne Bravo was in no doubt who Australia’s main weapon could be this time.”The wicket is playing pretty good,” Bravo said. “It’s not keeping low or anything like that. It’s starting to turn a bit more, so I think Hauritz might play a big part for them in the second innings.”Hauritz will be encouraged by the two wickets for Benn on the third afternoon, especially a ball that turned and bounced significantly to catch the edge of Brad Haddin’s bat. West Indies will also be hoping to capitalise on the pressure building on Australia to avoid a drawn series, and on individuals within the side. Hauritz always seems to be under the microscope despite solid performances over the past year, while the debutant Clint McKay will still be nervous following a wicketless first innings.”We know the Australians are under a lot of pressure to perform well,” Bravo said. “Some of the players in the team are also under pressure. That’s good for us. We are looking forward to the challenge we have nothing to lose so were going to give it our best shot.”West Indies provided a remarkable fightback after they were dismissed with Australia still 208 runs in front, led by three wickets from Bravo and two from Benn. Australia remained in the ascendancy given their lead but Bravo was confident West Indies were still well and truly in the match.”It’s still balanced,” he said. “We know the Australian team is a world-class team and 300-odd runs on the board, they have the self-belief in their bowling attack that they know they can take that and defend that. But we have the batters in our line-up also to chase down 360-plus runs with a day and a half to go. At this point in time we’d back ourselves to get that.”Doug Bollinger was a key man with the ball for Australia as he collected his maiden five-wicket haul to help dismiss West Indies for 312, and he could yet be an important player with the bat. Australia have two wickets in hand and will aim to add as many runs as they can. Bollinger jokingly said he’d like to set a target of 500 before unleashing Hauritz and the fast men.”He’s going to be pretty confident,” Bollinger said of Hauritz. “As we saw, Benn bowled tonight and got a few to spin and bounce, which is a massive bonus for him. He’ll just come out and bowl the way he normally does and the rest will look after itself. “

Attention turns to personal battles for the third Test between Australia and Pakistan in Hobart

The Preview by Osman Samiuddin in Hobart13-Jan-2010

Match Facts

Thursday, January 14

Start time 1030am (2330 GMT)The Kamran Akmal affair drags on, with the wicketkeeper staying in the limelight after his awful performance in Sydney•Getty Images

The Big Picture

It is in dead rubbers that the basis of cricket as an individual sport
becomes clearest. But for the grace of Pakistan everyone would’ve come to
Hobart much happier; the series is gone and with it the prospect of a good
end to summer. Now attention turns to personal battles of form and there is enough to this Test to keep it sprightly.To Pakistan first and who would have thought dropping a wicketkeeper who
dropped four chances in the last Test – and it wasn’t a one-off – would be
so difficult? Not least of the confusion surrounding l’affaire de Kamran,
as it will now be remembered, has come from the Pakistan camp itself; just
as coach Intikhab Alam was definitively ruling him out on Tuesday, Kamran Akmal,
definitively, was ruling himself in to an Australian newspaper.He was finally ruled out as Pakistan, surprisingly, announced their playing XI a day before the Test. But the matter has overshadowed a number of other issues, namely the
continuing failures of Faisal Iqbal and Misbah-ul-Haq in the middle order.
Changes have been made and Shoaib Malik and Khurram Manzoor are back in but sending back Fawad Alam, who represents a future – in whatever form and shape – was a poor choice. Mohammad Aamer is back as well to give Pakistan, finally, it’s first-choice attack and
that is something that just hasn’t happened in recent years. In all, there will be enough new faces from Sydney so that Pakistan are likely to have a fresh, energetic feel to them. They will be keen to prevent a 12th successive loss and a fourth successive
whitewash against this particular opponent.Australia are far more settled. Such messes they don’t often
find themselves in and when they do, they are generally quieter and handle
it with greater grace and coherence. Still, there are little niggling
things that don’t quite sit right about their line-up just yet.A lack of runs from their middle order is chief among them. Ricky Ponting,
Michael Clarke and Marcus North have two fifties each from six Tests this
summer and the first two, at least, should be doing much more than that.
Neither has looked particularly out of form, but that in itself can be a
greater worry than being out of touch, as North appears to be. Some
wickets for Peter Siddle would go down nicely as well, though his presence
has never been a non-threatening one.In the bigger picture this Test may not matter much, but within it there
will be enough players for whom it matters a great deal and that makes for
compelling viewing.

Form guide

Australia WWWDW

Pakistan LLDWL

Watch out for…

Shane Watson was the Test find of the year for Australia in 2009
and he started the new year in style with 97 at the SCG. In his five Tests
this summer, Watson has collected 579
runs at 72.37. His quick scoring at the top of the order has been a
key to Australia’s positive results, even if scores of 96, 89, 93 and 97
have made him a tragi-comic figure. This will be Watson’s first Test at
Bellerive Oval, where he started his first-class career in 2000-01, and it was his home ground until he moved back to Queensland in 2004-05.Who else but the wicketkeeper? Pakistan’s handling of
the Kamran Akmal/Sarfraz Ahmed issue has been abysmal and inept. On
wicketkeeping form alone Akmal, who is 28 today, should have been dropped long ago, but his
batting has kept him alive. Sarfraz is a safe keeper and though not as
game-changing with the bat, he is no mug either, as success on an A tour
to Australia last year proves. His debut tomorrow means it is the first time since October 2004 that anyone other than Akmal has put on
the wicketkeeping gloves for Pakistan in a Test match.

Team news

The only change for Australia is the return of Simon Katich, who missed
the Sydney Test with an elbow problem. Phillip Hughes flew home to Sydney
on Tuesday, having been released from the squad, leaving Clint McKay to
serve as 12th man for the fourth consecutive match. Marcus North retained
his place despite struggling for form this summer.Australia 1 Shane Watson, 2 Simon Katich, 3 Ricky Ponting (capt), 4
Michael Hussey, 5 Michael Clarke, 6 Marcus North, 7 Brad Haddin (wk), 8
Mitchell Johnson, 9 Nathan Hauritz, 10 Peter Siddle, 11 Doug Bollinger.Pakistan have made four changes to the line-up that
imploded in Sydney. Misbah and Iqbal are out, with Malik and Manzoor the beneficiaries.
Aamer is fit again and has replaced Mohammad Sami, and
Sarfraz has come in for Akmal.Pakistan 1 Imran Farhat, 2 Salman Butt, 3 Khurram Manzoor, 4
Mohammad Yousuf (capt), 5 Umar Akmal, 6 Shoaib Malik, 7 Sarfraz Ahmed (wk), 8
Mohammad Aamer, 9 Umar Gul, 10 Danish Kaneria, 11 Mohammad Asif

Pitch and conditions

Hobart is renowned as a swing bowler’s paradise and if the conditions are
overcast that is often the case. However, just as often there are big runs
to be had and Ricky Ponting was expecting a surface on which his attack
would have to work extra hard for their rewards. “It looks like a pretty
good wicket now, a fair bit drier than it has been over the last couple of
days,” Ponting said. “As the state games have been this year, they’ve been
pretty good batting wickets and it’s been pretty hard to bowl sides out,
so I’d imagine this might be the same.” The first two days are likely to
provide perfect, mild conditions but there could be showers over the final
three days of the Test.

Stats and trivia

• It’s 20 years since Bellerive Oval first hosted a Test but this is
  the first time the venue has had a Test in the post-Christmas period

• In eight Tests at the venue, Australia have won six and drawn two –
  they have never been beaten

• The ground hosted one of the most memorable Australian Tests in the
  modern era, when Adam Gilchrist and Justin Langer rescued Australia from 5
  for 126 to chase down 369 against Pakistan in 1999-2000

• Faisal Iqbal, Pakistan’s No.3, has scored more runs (97) in this
  series than his opposite number Ricky Ponting (80)

• Nathan Hauritz is the leading wicket-taker in the series so far with 12 wickets
  

  Quotes

  “What we have to do down here is not let them get back into the game like
  we let them start in Sydney. There’s still a lot of mystery around about
  them.”Ricky Ponting on the riddle that is Pakistan”There is no doubt that Sarfraz will play.”
  
  Intikhab Alam, Pakistan’s coach, puts an end to all speculation regarding
  Pakistan’s wicketkeeper in Hobart

New Zealand Cricket (NZC) will be holding the passports of all visiting players at the upcoming Under-19 World Cup as a precautionary measure

Nagraj Gollapudi14-Jan-2010New Zealand Cricket (NZC) will be holding the passports of all visiting players at the upcoming Under-19 World Cup. The exercise is understood to be a precautionary measure after there were instances of players going missing at the qualifying tournament in Toronto last September.An ICC spokesperson confirmed the developments and said the message had been communicated to the management of all teams prior to their departure, to which there were no objections. “They asked NZC to retain passports of players from certain countries, whom they considered to be a high-risk of overstaying,” he told Cricinfo. “We did not feel it was fair to single out a small number of teams so NZC is holding the passports of all the teams.”During the qualifiers, seven Uganda players were unaccounted for, just before the team was due to return home from Canada. It later emerged five players and a coach of the Afghanistan squad also failed to return home with the rest of the squad, and were believed to be seeking asylum in Canada.”Naturally, this [the Canada fiasco] has had a knock-on effect for the tournament proper in New Zealand with understandable concerns being raised by the immigration authorities that there may be a repeat occurrence,” the spokesperson said. “The people at New Zealand Immigration have been extremely helpful and accommodating in ensuring that the teams taking part in the Under-19 World Cup were granted the necessary visas for the event but they did require certain assurances. All the teams understand the need to do this and it is being done in the best interests of the event and the game of cricket.”The Under-19 World Cup will kick off on January 15 with defending champions India taking on Afghanistan in the opening game at the Bert Sutcliffe Oval.

Allrounder Yusuf Pathan has been recalled to the ODI squad for the three-match series against South Africa, along with fast bowler Praveen Kumar

Cricinfo staff16-Feb-2010Allrounder Yusuf Pathan has been recalled to the ODI squad for the first two matches against South Africa, along with fast bowler Praveen Kumar. R Ashwin, the Tamil Nadu offspinner, has also been called up, as has Mumbai allrounder Abhishek Nayar, to the 15-man squad.Opening batsman Gautam Gambhir is out of the series with a groin injury, while middle-order batsman Yuvraj Singh had not recovered from the hand injury he sustained in Bangladesh to take part in the three-ODI contest. Offspinner Harbhajan Singh was not included because he asked for time off to attend his sister’s wedding.Yusuf had made a strong case for himself with his eye-catching performances on the domestic circuit. His two centuries for West Zone – 210 off 190 balls in the second innings – helped them achieve the highest chase in first-class cricket in the Duleep Trophy final against South Zone.”It’s a great feeling to be called up,” Yusuf told Cricinfo. “In the back of my mind it was there after I scored those two hundreds in the Duleep [Trophy] final. If I get a chance to play, I think I’m in really good form. I’m happy to be in such good form.”He strengthened his chances by smashing a century off 40 balls – the third fastest century in List A matches – for Baroda in their Vijay Hazare Trophy match against Maharashtra in Ahmedabad. That performance came on the day the selectors met in Kolkata, where the second Test is currently underway, to pick the 15-man squad.Ashwin, who earlier blogged for Cricinfo, said he was eagerly awaiting a chance to debut for India. “I just need to do what I have been doing well so far, which has got me this call-up,” he told Cricinfo. “I have been playing lots of one-day competitions recently and so am in the one-day mode. I realise it’s a different ball game playing international cricket but I just need to do what i have been doing.”Ashwin has played with several of the members of India’s squad in the IPL and he felt that was a boon. “It will be really handy to have played with people like [Suresh] Raina and [MS] Dhoni, and at the end of the day the dressing room atmosphere matters and you take that confident frame of mind on to the field.””My strength is probably to be able to apply pressure. I look to dry up the runs and create pressure from one end, and that’s what I intend to do if I get a chance.”The series begins in Jaipur on February 21.Squad: MS Dhoni (capt/wk), Sachin Tendulkar, Virender Sehwag, Virat Kohli, Dinesh Karthik, Suresh Raina, Ravindra Jadeja, R Ashwin, Zaheer Khan, Ashish Nehra, Sudeep Tyagi, Praveen Kumar, Abhishek Nayar, Yusuf Pathan, Amit Mishra.

Hashim Amla, the South Africa batsmen, has been signed by Nottinghamshire for the first seven weeks of the 2010 county season

Cricinfo staff23-Feb-2010Hashim Amla, the South Africa batsmen, has been signed by Nottinghamshire for the first seven weeks of the 2010 county season. Amla will provide cover for Australian batsman David Hussey, who will play for Nottinghamshire after the IPL and the World Twenty20 in the West Indies.”Six of our Championship fixtures begin before the end of May, so our main aim in the recruitment process was to find a batsman who we felt could score consistently in four day-cricket,” Nottinghamshire director of cricket Mick Newell said. “Hashim is having a good time in India, he’s not involved in South Africa’s Twenty20 side and he hasn’t got an IPL contract so he fits the bill.”Pursuing county cricket is a good option for a player in his position and hopefully he’ll leave with a positive impression of us and the door will be open for him to return at some stage in the future.”Amla is currently in India with the South African ODI squad. He was the Player of the Series in the recently-completed two-Test series, after scoring 490 runs and being dismissed just once.He is expected to make his debut for Nottinghamshire in a three-day game against Durham UCCE from April 10 and will leave Trent Bridge after the County Championship match against Essex which concludes on June 1.

A year on from cricket’s most shocking and deadly event, match-referee Chris Broad, who survived the harrowing Lahore terror attack, said the sport’s hierarchies cannot afford to become complacent

Richard Sydenham03-Mar-2010A year on from cricket’s most shocking and deadly event, match-referee Chris Broad, who survived the harrowing Lahore terror attack, said the sport’s hierarchies cannot afford to become complacent regarding security. If they slack in their efforts, Broad fears the terrorists will return.Broad, 52, was caught in the now infamous terrorist ambush on March 3 last year, when the match officials’ bus and that of the Sri Lanka team, en route from their hotel to the Gaddafi Stadium was shot at by masked gunmen. The driver of Broad’s vehicle was killed and reserve umpire Ahsan Raza took a bullet, but has now recovered. Several Sri Lanka players were injured in the attack. Broad later said that the passengers in his bus were left “like sitting ducks” and he felt let down by security that had been assured them.”The third of the third ’09 will be with me until I die,” Broad told Cricinfo. “It was an unhappy day, not only for me but for the rest of the playing control team over there and the Sri Lankan team. It will be cricket’s 9/11. It was a sad day for us and for Pakistan as a country because they wouldn’t have wanted anything to happen to foreigners but that’s the problem they have at the moment.”While Pakistan are now forced to play their home matches overseas because of that attack and frequent bombings throughout the country, the rest of the cricket world is also now more vigilant than ever to possible attacks.This month’s IPL is set to go ahead in India, after organisers opted to take the event to South Africa last season because of lack of adequate security due to a clash with the country’s general elections. This third season, though, has not been without player security fears.”I’m encouraged by the way that the boards I have dealt with (since) have acted regarding security,” Broad said. “I was in India in October-November and they had certainly changed their attitudes regarding security not only for players but for officials also. The concern is that we don’t want those attitudes to relax as that is the time when the terrorists would strike.”Hopefully the boards will continue to improve what we have in place now and ensure that all people involved in international cricket are safe and secure. I say that only because I don’t want the terrorists to beat us.”Broad does not know if he would ever return to Pakistan and said he would need to have all the facts regarding security, if international cricket were to return there in his time as a match official. He does, though, have sympathy for the country’s plight and that of the cricket board. Ironically, having visited Pakistan as player and official, the ill-fated visit was his most enjoyable one until the attack.”I have been to Pakistan four or five times and it was one of the most enjoyable tours I’ve ever had there. The organisation had been very good and socially it was very acceptable as there were more restaurants opening up, the cleanliness within the country was improving. It was a very enjoyable time and it’s just terrible that was soured by what happened.”It’s going to be difficult to overcome because terrorism in the world seems to have a foothold. But we have to support the Pakistan people and cricketers as much as we can, though unfortunately, at this moment in time, it’s difficult to take [international] cricket back to that country. It’s something that is very sad but very true.”The main issue is they have got to sort out these bombings and terror attacks within their own country. I know it is not the Pakistan Cricket Board’s responsibility but it is something that needs to be done and the wider community has to help as much as it can. Otherwise it would be extremely sad to see cricket die in that country.”So, on the anniversary of the attack, does Broad still have nightmares? He revealed in an interview last year that he suffered flashbacks in a cinema on hearing gunshots in a movie.”Time is a great healer, I don’t think about it too often these days but the memories are always going to be with me. The memories are still extremely vivid and they are memories I wish I had never had.”Cricket has not only changed dramatically since I was an England player [in the 1980s], so much has changed in terms of security just in the seven years I have worked for the ICC. It’s a different world to when I was a player.”

Hampshire paid the penalty for allowing Ian Blackwell a comfortable start as
his innings of 83 tilted an evenly-balanced contest in Durham’s favour at the
Riverside

22-Apr-2010

ScorecardKyle Coetzer helped get Durham’s reply off to a solid start•Getty Images

Hampshire paid the penalty for allowing Ian Blackwell a comfortable start as
his innings of 83 tilted an evenly-balanced contest in Durham’s favour at the
Riverside.Blackwell hit the fourth ball he faced over midwicket for six as he blazed to
36 off 21 balls, and he had Durham’s deficit down to 73 when he was out two
overs from the close.A powerful pull off Kabir Ali went straight to Jimmy Adams, who clung onto a
juggling catch at square leg as Durham ended the day on 284 for 5. Blackwell settled down after surviving a return chance on 36 to 18-year-old Danny Briggs, who had removed both openers with his left-arm spin and was left on for 23 overs.He took some heavy punishment in his last two overs as his England Under-19
colleague Ben Stokes drove him for a straight six and Blackwell followed up with
a huge one over square leg. When Durham lost Dale Benkenstein in the over before tea they had slipped from 108 without loss to 146 for 3 in reply to 345.But Blackwell’s 50 stand with Will Smith came up in 38 balls, even though the
Durham skipper continued to look out of touch. He was dropped twice in the slips by Chris Benham and Adams before Sean Ervine pinned him lbw for 28.With Kabir Ali and left-armer James Tomlinson finding the bright, chilly
conditions unsuited to swing, they failed to trouble the Durham openers. Briggs made the breakthrough when he turned one past Kyle Coetzer’s defensive push with the Scot on 47, but the spinner looked fortunate to gain an lbw verdict against Michael Di Venuto (71).Benkenstein opened up confidently with two cuts for four off Briggs but fell for 10 when he tried to flip a short ball from Griffiths behind square and got a bottom edge into his stumps.
Blackwell throttled back after being dropped, reaching 50 off 55 balls, while Stokes took seven overs to get off the mark but then struck the ball powerfully and remained unbeaten on 28.When Hampshire resumed on 298 for 8 in the morning it took only two overs
for Mitch Claydon to capture the wicket of Kabir, who was caught down the leg
side by Phil Mustard.But the final pair were allowed to add 36 as Briggs pulled Claydon for two
fours and a six in one over on his way to 28 before Liam Plunkett had him caught
behind to finish with 4 for 103.