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Gus Logie, the coach of Canada, has been let go due to the team’s lack of results, Cricket Canada announced on Tuesday.Logie, the former West Indies batsman, who was appointed as coach of the national team in 2012, endured a difficult time at the helm. The team’s most recent failure came in the ICC World Twenty20 Qualifier, where they missed out on securing a spot in the World Twenty20 2014 by a long way, finishing 12th after winning only two group games out of seven.The team is currently chasing one of two spots available for the 2015 World Cup in Australia and New Zealand, with ODI status and a place in the ICC High Performance Programme also at stake. Given how important the next few months will be for the team, Doug Hannum, CEO of Cricket Canada, said it was time for the board to act. “This is obviously a challenging time for the organisation but this decision is made with a view to prepare and send the best team to the World Cup Qualifier in January,” he said. “Unfortunately you cannot change 15 players at once and something had to give.It’s up to the playing group to pick themselves up give a good account of themselves in New Zealand.”Logie, 53, who played 52 Tests and 158 ODIs for West Indies between 1981 and 1993, had had a stint with Canada before, during the 2003 World Cup, before guiding West Indies to their Champions Trophy triumph in 2004. In 2005, he signed a long-term coaching deal with Bermuda but left them in 2009 after – justifiably, it was said – criticising the cricket set-up in the country. He replaced Michael Dighton for Canada in June last year.”We would like to thank Gus for all that he did while he was with us. His efforts in 2003 in South Africa are part of Canada’s sporting history and his hard work and dedication to his craft are unparalleled,” Ravin Moorthy, the Cricket Canada president, said. “It’s unfortunate that his tenure had to end after the disappointing tour of the UAE, but unfortunately this is a results-driven business and the results just weren’t there.”Cricket Canada are yet to name a replacement for Logie.

Scorecard and ball-by-ball detailsJohn Mooney (right) finished with figures of 10 for 81 to take Ireland to a 122-run win•ICC/Saleem Sanghati

John Mooney took his second five-wicket haul of the match to help Ireland to their fourth Intercontinental Cup title, beating Afghanistan by 122 runs in Dubai. Afghanistan were battling against the tide at the end of the third day, at 136 for 5 chasing 347 but a 114-run stand for the sixth wicket between Rahmat Shah and Mohammad Nabi gave them hope. Ireland struck back after lunch via Mooney who ran through the tail.Rahmat and Nabi had come together on the third day with the score on 86 for 5 and added 50 till stumps. After a watchful first few overs on the fourth morning, Afghanistan scored their first boundary when Rahmat drove Mooney through mid-off. Rahmat survived a shout for lbw on 43 off the seamer Max Sorensen, and Nabi too got the benefit of the doubt in an lbw appeal off Kevin O’Brien. Nabi and Rahmat frustrated Ireland for an entire session as Afghanistan went into the break at 188 for 5, needing a further 159.Ireland finally struck seven overs into the second session when Sorensen trapped Nabi lbw for 49. Five overs later, Samiullah Shenwari was bowled off a length ball by Mooney and from then on, there was no looking back for Ireland as Mooney took a wicket in each of his next three overs. He trapped Mirwais Ashraf lbw, had Dawlat Zadran edging to slip and wrapped up the game when Izatullah Dawlatzai edged to Joyce at third slip.Mooney finished with match figures of 10 for 81, to go with his 5 for 45 in the first innings. Rahmat was stranded on 86.

Gary Ballance could be drafted into England’s struggling batting line-up•AFP

England have confirmed they will not draft any more players into their Test squad, but Tymal Mills may have given Andy Flower a few things to consider after a lively burst for the EPP against a Western Australia XI.Mills, the Essex left-arm quick who was called up to be a net bowler with the main squad at the start of the tour, removed the WA top order in their second innings during a spell of 3 for 6 which reduced the hosts to 4 for 14. Mills wickets all came in an eight-ball at the start of the innings.Flower, however, will show faith with those in the original squad even though the three tall quicks – Chris Tremlett, Boyd Rankin and Steven Finn – have failed to impress on the tour. England’s fast bowlers have not been able to compete for pace with Australia’s and Mills is considered the quickest bowler in English cricket.Of more relevance to England’s potential line-up at the WACA was the form of Gary Ballance, the Yorkshire left-hander, who struck 89 having left Adelaide early to allow him to play in this match. The same applied to Jonny Bairstow, but the EPP’s declaration meant he did not get an innings.Ballance had a tough start to the Ashes tour with scores of 0 and 4 in the early tour matches before making an unbeaten 55 against the Chairman’s XI in Alice Springs although Ben Stokes was preferred for a Test debut in Adelaide.Ballance said he would be prepared to come into England’s middle order if the call came. “I haven’t really thought about that too much,” he told . “I’m just trying to look at this as good preparation. If I do get a chance, I feel I am ready.”Ballance added 193 with Sam Robson, the Australia-born Middlesex opener, and unlike Ballance, Robson converted into three figures.

Sri Lanka Cricket has reaffirmed its commitment to the tour of Bangladesh even though a canceled tour may bring the Asia Cup and World Twenty20 to Sri Lanka. SLC secretary Nishantha Ranatunga has said the board will not compromise on player security but is otherwise eager to support its Asian neighbours. Sri Lanka is believed to be among the reserve hosts for both those tournaments.”Player security is what we are most concerned about, but if we tour Bangladesh, we can help ensure the region stays strong from a cricketing perspective,” Ranatunga said. “In Asia, we have a situation currently where we can’t tour Pakistan. Even though a tournament could be moved, in the long-term it is better for us that the region remains strong. Bangladesh has a cricket-loving public and it’s important that cricket is played there, if possible.”SLC has monitored the security situation in Bangladesh during the past weeks, but has maintained its willingness to send a team throughout the upheaval. Its final decision on the tour is expected by January 15, and is subject to the findings of a security delegation that arrived in Bangladesh on Sunday. The Sri Lanka team is scheduled to leave for Bangladesh on January 24.The board’s enthusiasm to send its team is also driven by an element of reciprocity, Ranatunga said. “In the past we have had problems in our country as well, but during that time, Bangladesh were happy to tour. As long as there is no risk to our players, we would like to support the BCB as well.”The Sri Lanka team had been victims of a terrorist attack in Lahore in 2009, and Ranatunga had earlier said the board would play close attention to any possible security threats. SLC has received advice from the Sri Lankan High Commission in Dhaka in the lead-up to its final decision.The two-member security unit will visit Mirpur on Tuesday and meet the local security authorities on the following day. One of the two men will stay back in Dhaka for the January 20 World Twenty20 security assessment meeting with the rest of the participating boards and the ICC.

Scorecard
Nkrumah Bonner hit an unbeaten 122; the next highest score in the innings was 27•WICB

Nkrumah Bonner hit his highest domestic one-day score to almost single-handedly drag Jamaica to 243, before his team’s bowlers bowled out Guyana 11 short of the target. It was an almost inconsequential match as both teams had qualified to the semi-finals from Zone A in the Nagico Super50.Bonner hit eight fours and five sixes as he remained unbeaten on 122 after having walked in in the fourth over. He had little support, with the next highest score being 27 from Andre McCarthy, followed by 21 extras including 18 wides.Guyana’s chase got off to a solid start as the vastly experienced Shivanrine Chanderpaul and Trevon Griffith put on 88 for the first wicket. After that, however, Guyana couldn’t manage any partnerships of substance as Nos 4 to 9 were dismissed between scores of 11 and 21 and the asking-rate kept increasing. Christopher Barnwell was out off the last ball of the 33rd over and only seven runs came in the next 24 deliveries, including the wicket of Chanderpaul, and Guyana couldn’t keep pace after that.

The BCCI has made it mandatory for all domestic IPL players to appear for their domestic teams in the zonal leagues of the domestic Twenty20 championship rather than joining their franchises for IPL preparations. A circular explaining the decision has been issued to all 27 affiliates of the BCCI.The five zones will stage their respective Twenty20 league from March 30 to April 5. However, with the IPL set to start in the UAE from April 16, most of the franchises were hoping to get the players assembled for preparatory camps. While the West Zone league will be played in Mumbai from March 30, Central Zone teams will compete in Nagpur from March 31. North, South and East Zone leagues will start in Chandigarh, Vijayawada and Kolkata, respectively from April 1.”We have informed the affiliates that no player can skip the zonal T20s and join a franchise for IPL preparations instead,” Ratnakar Shetty, BCCI’s general manager – game development, said.While the move will bolster the state teams and avoid the IPL overshadowing the domestic T20 league, it will be a setback for the franchises. Following the full auction, most teams will enter the IPL with totally revamped squads. The IPL team coaches were hoping to spend more with the new players ahead of the tournament. “Ideally, we would like players joining us three weeks before the season starts,” an IPL team’s support staff member said. “But it would be good in a way that the players will be playing competitive games.”The state teams who will make it for the Super League for the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy, to be played in Mumbai and Rajkot from April 8, will have to do without their IPL players. The top two teams from each zone qualify for the Super League. “Most teams would leave for UAE around a week before the IPL starts, so we can’t make it compulsory for the players to play theSuper League,” Shetty said.

ScorecardGraham Onions remains masterful in the conditions which greeted him at Chester-le-Street•Getty Images

This is a match report that could, to a large extent, have been written with the cut and paste keys.As has so often been the case in recent times, this was a day’s play characterised by fine bowling from Graham Onions and featuring a visiting batting line-up struggling to cope with the moving ball on a helpful pitch. It was classic Durham; classic Onions. Pretty much like a band playing their greatest hits.Quite what else James Whitaker, the national selector, expected when he came to Durham is unclear. He knows that Onions – and the largely unsung Chris Rushworth – is a tough proposition in these conditions and he surely cannot have expected him to gain more pace, learn new tricks or even have deteriorated after several years of outstandingly consistent cricket. If England select Onions, they know exactly what they will get.That was a point made by Onions after play. Perhaps frustrated by the question – it is hardly the first time he has spoken on this subject – or the circumstances, he made little attempt to sugar-coat his feelings.”He knows exactly what I’m about,” Onions said. “He saw me in Sri Lanka, as well, when I was there with the Lions.”As a cricketer there is nothing more I can do. I am doing all I can to produce results and to play for England. But the bottom line is that I’ve done that for the last four or five years. I’ve just got to keep knocking on the door.”The problem with games at Chester-le-Street, however, is that they do not replicate conditions found in international cricket. While it is true that not many county grounds in April will replicate the sort of surfaces found at Test level, in Durham that is taken to an extreme. So only one batting bonus point was conceded at home by Durham in the 2013 season and not once has an opposition team scored 300 in their first innings here in the last two years.So while Rushworth and Onions, maintaining tight lines and generating movement, troubled batsmen throughout and made a strong batting line-up appear fragile, it is of limited use for Whitaker has he seeks to apply such skills to the demands of international cricket.Yet many of the virtues of bowling remain the same whatever the surface. So Onions’ consistency, his stamina and his ability to extract movement both in the air and off the seam when conditions allow, would always render him a reliable performer for England. But he could play Test cricket for a decade and never find a surface like this. He could play Test cricket for a decade and never find a surface that offers such variable bounce in the first innings and he could play for a decade and not see the ball nip around to this extent.Equally Keaton Jennings, Durham’s impressive opening batsman, has acquired a technique that seems ideally suited to these surfaces. Using his height, he prods half forward, is remarkably disciplined about not playing away from his body, and waits for the ball in one of his three or four scoring areas. It is the basis of a decent game and, in temperament at least, he has a great deal going for him. But sterner tests await on tracks that turn or against fast bowlers that will challenge that forward prod.All that leaves Whitaker with a difficult choice to make. Onions’ case remains compelling but, with the younger men like Chris Jordan forcing their way into the reckoning, England may be reluctant to select a seamer who will be 32 before the end of the season. Unless Onions is able to unseat James Anderson or Stuart Broad – and that it is not completely impossible, as both will need rest – it is hard to see him winning a recall in anything other than a crisis.That Somerset ended the day still in with a chance of victory – Yorkshire chased down a target of 339 here in April last year – was largely due to some sloppy batting in Durham’s second innings. While both Lewis Gregory and Peter Trego, who also produced a typically brave counter-attacking contribution with the bat, deserve credit for delivery the best part of 40 overs each over the first two days of the game, they enjoyed little support.Somerset donated another 10 runs in no-balls – that is 40 in the match so far – and several Durham wickets fell as the result more of careless batting than fine bowling. Michael Richardson, for example, pulled a long-hop to mid-wicket, Scott Borthwick was brilliantly caught as he turned a half-volley off his legs and Jennings drove uncharacteristically loosely at one that turned out of a foot-hole.Onions appeared unimpressed by his colleague’s batting. “If we’re honest, the application we showed with the bat could have been better,” he said. “The batters will be disappointed, I’m sure. We could have put them out of the game. But if we bowl well, as we did today, I’m sure we’ll win.”Somerset’s situation is not helped by something of an injury crisis. With three first choice seamers – Steve Kirby, Alfonso Thomas and Craig Overton – unable to take part in this game due to injury, they could have done without Craig Meschede sustaining a side strain and Nick Compton suffering a neck spasm that forced him to bat at No. 8 in Somerset’s first innings. An injection appears to have brought little comfort and he was unable to take the field in the evening session. His involvement in the second innings, and in the next game, must be in doubt.Compton was, therefore, unable to make much of an impression on Whitaker. He may have felt it was typical of his fortune that he was last man out, adjudged leg before to a ball he seemed to have hit really quite hard.”We didn’t bowl very well at all on day one,” Dave Nosworthy, the Somerset director of cricket admitted. “And we didn’t start well with the bat, either. But we showed a lot of courage and character later on and by no means is this game over.”Somerset will have to bat far better second time around, though. Marcus Trescothick does not look anything like the batsman he once was and, though the line-up is deep and contains several fine stroke makers, they are up against an expert in his own backyard. Durham’s lead of 275 may well be enough already.

Last year

7th, CC Div 2; 5th South Group, FLt20; 4th, Group A, YB40.

2013 in a nutshell

You don’t have to go back too far at all to find Kent among the leading counties, a solid fixture in the top division of the Championship and a regular presence in the latter stages of the T20 competition. But the club have swung to a low ebb and last season failed to make any impression on any of the three competitions.They had little trouble for runs in red-ball cricket – save being bowled out for 63 by Worcestershire – with five players averaging over 40 and scoring 16 centuries – one fewer than Division Two champions Lancashire managed. Unfortunately one of those players wasn’t Sam Northeast who went backwards from an excellent 2012. Daniel Bell-Drummond also endured a mediocre campaign but it was his first full season and he is four years Northeast’s junior. Robert Key bounced back to form and Darren Stevens also showed there’s plenty of life in the old dog.But Kent found nothing to back up their batsman and had no-one to take wickets on a consistent basis. Their leading wicket-taker was Charlie Shreck with only 33 victims. Mark Davies topped the averages but was only able to play 10 games through injury. Their bowling plans were not helped by the abrupt departure of Matt Coles who left in a huff for Hampshire in August.Kent’s one-day cricket was also disappointing. They lost their first five Friends Life t20 matches but did cause a huge upset by becoming the first team to beat Hampshire at the Ageas Bowl in a year. They were never in the hunt for a Yorkshire Bank 40 semi-final.Their season was listing to such an extent they were forced to call up Cowdrey. Not MCC from the grave nor 56-year-old Chris but his son Fabian who made a couple of half-centuries in his nine one-day appearances.

2014 prospects

When one part of the game is steady there is cause for positivity and more often than not in 2013 Kent put up solid totals in the Championship. If runs flow once more this season they will again be a difficult team to beat – no-one in either division drew more matches than the 11 stalemates Kent shook hands on last season – and they have potential to push up the table if they can find some penetrative bowling.They have recognised their shortcomings with the ball and assembled a new attack. Mitch Claydon signed a permanent switch from Durham following a loan spell at the end of last season. Further pace will be provided by David Griffiths who has joined from Hampshire and Australian Doug Bollinger looks a fine signing. He still has plenty to offer at 32 and this winter helped New South Wales win the Sheffield Shield with 31 wickets at 24.09. He is available for the entire season too.Key has taken back the captaincy and he will hope the job does not hinder his batting as it did for two years leading him to give up the job in 2012. He is Kent through and through and best-placed to lead a revival. Their best cricket came in the Championship last season and if they can find an attack with some teeth, they could be a dark-horse in the promotion shake up.

Key player

With wickets and runs in all formats, Kent have leaned heavily on Darren Stevens in recent seasons. He continues to do a superb job and remains an exceptionally dangerous player in one-day cricket. There was a danger his career could have been ended had he been found guilty of corruption charges but everyone in Kent breathed a sigh of relief when he was cleared.

Bright young thing

Daniel Bell-Drummond is an exceptionally talented batsman and it is hoped he will have come on from his first season in county cricket, during which he was rather thrown in at the deep end in 13 Championship matches. His aggressive style and lavish strokeplay make him easy to warm to and everyone in English cricket will be hoping he takes his batting forward this season.

Captain/coach

For seven years Robert Key was Kent captain and lead a slow decline, eventually giving up the role two seasons ago. But after only a year’s break Key is back at the helm and he will hope to return his club closer to where they were when he first began the job back in 2005. Sam Northeast has been made vice-captain. Jimmy Adams, hired as head coach after a strenuous recruitment process in 2012, has signed a contract extension until at least the end of the season.

ESPNcricinfo verdict

Not losing is step one to success and Kent did that more often than anyone last year. They have the batting to be successful and a run at Championship promotion could come about if their new bowling attack can fire. It would be surprise if they reached the knockout stages of either one-day competition.

Scorecard and ball-by-ball detailsThe prospect of facing Kings XI Punjab means extensive research on Glenn Maxwell. Perhaps a few hours spent decoding David Miller. But the winning push, in Hyderabad, came from two men who fly well under the radar. Wriddhiman Saha, usually charged with steadying a top-order wobble, exploded to make 54 off 26 and Manan Vohra, who was inked into the XI for the first time this season, made 47 off 20. Sunrisers Hyderabad had amassed 205 but came in second best.The Powerplay provides a crucial opportunity when chasing a big total. Dale Steyn and Bhuvneshwar Kumar, though, aren’t the most straightforward bowlers to cart around. But that was what happened and the 86 for 1 that Saha and Vohra drove Kings XI to missed out on the overall IPL record for most runs in the first six overs by just one run.Kings XI needed the audacious foundation, though. Only 24 runs came between the 13th and 17th overs. Sunrisers managed to keep Maxwell quiet for an over and dismissed him in the next. Miller wasn’t managing his usual pace and Sunrisers’ attack is well versed in flummoxing strong batting line-ups. Steyn was enlisted with the 18th over, but his extra pace proved just what George Bailey needed to hike his team back to the top of the table.Wriddhiman Saha reached his half-century in 22 balls•BCCI

It was an unmitigated assault, and each shot carried the imprint of the dressing room’s backing. Vohra faced eight balls from Steyn and smashed 20 runs, including two thumping sixes over midwicket. Saha deposited the second ball he faced from the South African quick into the same region with consummate authority. Both players were unafraid to go aerial and were quite efficient when they did. The result was Steyn, Sunrisers best hope, recorded his worst T20 figures – 0 for 51.Sunrisers would rue not converting the opportunities they created – Bailey was absently loitering out of his crease in the 17th over, worried about a leg before appeal when Karn Sharma missed a run-out. Next ball, he hoisted a contentious chance to David Warner at long-off, but replays did not offer conclusive evidence of the catch being cleanly taken.Shikhar Dhawan was confident of his top orders’s aptitude at the toss. His concerns lay with the middle order and their ability to accelerate. Those were laid to rest courtesy a Naman Ojha-inspired bludgeoning. A strong bottom hand dominated most of his shots, so much that drives through the cover region seemed shoveled. Sunrisers have been searching for an Indian batsman to support their big-name top order and his 79 off 36 has given a strong message.He was brutal against the spinners and Sandeep Sharma’s medium pace enabled him to drive Sunrisers past the 200-mark. The 26 runs that came in the 19th over meant Sandeep’s 1 for 65 became the joint second worst figures in IPL.The early goings were markedly subdued though, with Dhawan stumbling around for form. He was leaping down the track only to find the inside edge. When he stayed deep in his crease, he couldn’t pierce the gap on the off side. The fifth over provided ample relief and more pertinently, restored Dhawan’s fluency. Sandeep’s indiscipline – he offered two free hits – was punished with a four and a six. Having succumbed to the 30s on four previous occasions, he looked set to become the first Sunrisers captain to make a half-century but a flick off the hips found short fine leg.David Warner strode in at No. 4 and ensured the foundation laid by the openers was taken advantage of. He contributed 44 to an 81-run stand for the third wicket that built a total fit to challenge most teams. But Kings XI’s batting might was ruthlessly effective.

ScorecardWill Porterfield, seen here for Ireland at the World T20, has began the 2014 season in confident form•ICC

Will Porterfield, brimming with confidence after his first Championship century for Warwickshire last week, made an energetic half-century as Warwickshire proved too classy for Leicestershire and won their first match in the NatWest T20.Porterfield endured a miserable 2013 but has enjoyed a strong first two months to this season with two half-centuries in his first two matches before the century against Somerset – the first since arriving in Birmingham in 2011.Here, in only his second T20 innings of the season after a washout on the second Friday of the competition, Porterfield was composed and confident and lead his side to a total Leicestershire were never in the hunt to chase.He struck the first of his five boundaries with a flick to leg in the third over of the innings, added another in same region behind square next ball before a top-edged a pull sailed for six over the keeper’s head.With timing difficult on a slightly slow wicket, Porterfield knocked the bowling around intelligently and ran hard – plenty of extra runs were pinched around the large Grace Road outfield.Porterfield and Varun Chopra, who played several sweet off-drives before walking across his stumps and being bowled by Rob Taylor, added 49 in 34 balls for the opening wicket and then began the impetus in the second-half of the innings that saw six of the last nine overs go for double figures.He cut the first ball of Taylor’s second spell for four before giving himself room and slapping a flat six down the ground. His fifty came up in 39 balls, after which he reverse swept Josh Cobb with perfect timing behind point but trying another miscued it off the toe to extra-cover.Porterfield’s was the first of three wickets to fall in seven balls but despite a tumble of wickets, Warwickshire kept the runs flowing as Ateeq Javid made 27 in just 12 balls. He guided a high-full toss past short third man and pulled over square leg as 16 came from the 18th over and in the 20th, a short ball from Ireland was cut for four more and leg-side heave also found the rope; 14 from the final set finished the innings strongly.It was an above par total and benefitted from some slippery Leicestershire fielding. Their captain Josh Cobb was critical of his side’s out-cricket in their first two matches and here again they were a mixed bag. There were slips in the outfield, including Tom Wells’ misjudgement at deep midwicket that allowed Porterfield to bring up his half-century with a boundary.Warwickshire used different tactics to their hosts in the field. Leicestershire had generally tried to take pace off the ball on a wicket that has been under undercover for much of the week. But Chopra brought out four fast bowlers who had Leciestershire, shorn of Scott Styris who failed a fitness test on a sore calf, quickly behind the chase.The extra pace of Chris’ Wright and Woakes forced two miscued pulls that removed both Leicestershire openers in the first three overs and a third wicket went down in the Powerplay, which yielded only 30 runs, when Boyd Rankin darted one into the middle and off stumps of Greg Smith.There was rhythm and confidence from Rankin. He hit the pitch hard and conceded only 18 from his first three overs, as Leicestershire reached only 60 at the half-way stage, before Tom Wells blasted his final set for 17.Wells’ hitting was the only positive in a weak Leicestershire performance. He swung merrily and struck four lusty sixes, including one into the upper tier of the pavilion, for a half-century in just 28 balls – his first for Leicestershire in just his fifth game – that provided some late entertainment in a game that was dead for a long period of the second innings.