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Match Facts

Trent Bridge, September 5
Start time: 2.00pm (1300 GMT)England can be comfortable with their back-up spinner•PA Photos

The Big Picture

England’s victory at Lord’s ensured their unbeaten run at home continues – they have not lost an ODI series at home since 2009 when Australia won by a country mile. But that was After the Lord Mayor’s Show since the Ashes were already won and South Africa will cast this series off as just the same, particularly if they lose the final rubber.With the No. 1 ranking secure until the new year, England have at least a major achievement to take away from this summer and are building well. The test of their progress will come in India but for the time being they can be content with several plus points that bode well for their long term vision towards the 2015 World Cup. One of those is the offspinner James Tredwell who was superb at Lord’s. He has proved a more than capable replacement for Graeme Swann and England should be confident that should Swann need to be rested, Tredwell is the wings.South Africa will need to play Tredwell, and Samit Patel far better if they are to put a good total on the board – their downfall in the two games they have lost. Their middle order is beginning to look as fragile as Australia’s earlier in the summer, although the quality of personnel in the South Africa line-up is far better on paper; but they haven’t delivered as AB de Villiers conceded.Their bowling also lacked punch at Lord’s and Morne Morkel is needed back in the attack if South Africa are to maintain pressure and get below Eoin Morgan sooner in the innings. They will be pleased that Jonathan Trott isn’t available for England, who will most likely bring in Jonny Bairstow and either promote Ravi Bopara or Craig Kieswetter to No. 3.But that will be a call for Alastair Cook and Richard Halsall, the England fielding coach, to consider, as Andy Flower is taking a week off. The ECB denied Flower would use the time to conduct more meetings with Kevin Pietersen.

Form guide

(Most recent first, completed matches)
England WWLWW
South Africa LLWWW

Watch out for

Ravi Bopara has been on a downward spiral with the bat since his self-inflicted exile from the second Test. With Trott out of the side, Bopara should be looking forward to more time at the crease but his current form may see England opt to keep Bopara at No. 4 and reduce the risk of losing two early wickets. Fortunately for Bopara his bowling is keeping him in the side but he needs runs.AB de Villiers has not made the big runs he produced against Sri Lanka and New Zealand earlier this year and by his own admission has been guilty of not continuing his starts – 39, 28 and 28 in the last three games – into scores that could put England under pressure chasing. With several players around him out of form, de Villiers needs a captain’s knock at Trent Bridge.

Team news

England’s replacement for Trott is likely to be Bairstow, the spare batsman in the squad. England could move Craig Kieswetter up the order to save the out-of-form Bopara going in at No. 3 under pressure.England (possible) 1 Alastair Cook (capt), 2 Ian Bell, 3 Craig Kieswetter (wkt), 4 Ravi Bopara, 5 Eoin Morgan, 6 Jonny Bairstow, 7 Samit Patel, 8 James Tredwell, 9 James Anderson, 10 Steven Finn, 11 Jade DernbachSouth Africa lacked bite to their bowling attack and will want to get Morne Morkel back into their XI, possibly in place of Lonwabo Tsotsobe. Justin Ontong is also an option to replace one of the middle-order batsmen.South Africa (possible) 1 Graeme Smith, 2 Hashim Amla, 3 Dean Elgar, 4 AB de Villiers (capt & wk), 5 JP Duminy, 6 Faf du Plessis, 7 Ryan McLaren, 8 Wayne Parnell, 9 Robin Peterson, 10 Dale Steyn, 11 Morne Morkel

Pitch and conditions

The Trent Bridge wickets have got better as the season has progressed and with the weather forecast set for warm and sunny, batting first will be the desired option given the September dew may come into play under the floodlights.

Stats and trivia

• If England win they will have reeled off eight series victories in a row at home, stretching back to 2009. Of the previous 11 series, England won just three.
• Since returning to the England ODI side at the start of this year, Ian Bell averages 59.88 with 539 runs.
• Morne Morkel needs three wickets to reach 100 in ODIs

Quotes

“It’d be nice to see him back in England colours. He’s a great player; we know he’s a class player. I hope for him things turn out well.”
“I’ve seen them win matches for their teams back home on the big stage in finals and stuff like that. But they are inexperienced and when you have inexperience in your team you need the senior players to take control, including myself.”

Warwickshire batsman Darren Maddy has announced he will end his 23-year career after the current domestic season.Maddy’s career began with Leicestershire in 1993 (having initially joined in 1991) where he stayed until 2006 – being part of their Championship-winning team of 1996 and 1998 – after which he moved to Edgbaston. He captained Warwickshire in 2007 and 2008, in the second of those seasons leading the county back to Division One of the County Championship.In 2012 he secured his third Championship medal and also helped Warwickshire to the CB40 title in 2010.He had a limited England career, playing three Tests, eight ODIs and four Twenty20s. His Test debut came against New Zealand, at The Oval, in 1999 and his two other appearances in the subsequent tour of South Africa.The arrival of Twenty20 helped Maddy reinvent himself as one of the early trend-setters in the format – as a hard-hitting batsman, useful medium-pacer, and brilliant fielder – and he earned an England recall for the inaugural World Twenty20 in South Africa in 2007.Maddy said: “It’s been a tough decision to make over the last few weeks, but I realise that it’s the right time for me to bow out and give more opportunities for many of Warwickshire’s promising youngsters to come through and help build on the success of recent seasons.”I’ve enjoyed a fantastic career, which I never thought would be possible when I signed my first professional contract with Leicestershire in 1991. However, it could not have happened without the great coaches, players, staff and fans who have supported me, as well as my family.”Dougie Brown, the director of cricket at Warwickshire, added: “Darren is one of the most widely respected players in the county game, having won every trophy possible and he has a great record on the biggest stage.”He’s a great role model for the younger players in the squad and is a very popular guy around the dressing room and with club members and supporters. He’ll play an important role for the team in our upcoming Friends Life t20 campaign and we all wish him well in the next stage of his career.”

ScorecardSteve Magoffin helped secure a very efficient victory for Sussex•Getty Images

Steve Magoffin took a four-wicket haul as Sussex completed their second victory of the season and condemned Derbyshire to a fourth consecutive defeat in the County Championship.Magoffin snapped up two of the remaining three Derbyshire wickets in the first half hour of the fourth morning to finish with figures of 4 for 44. That left Sussex a victory target of just 42 in the Division One clash at Derby and they knocked off the runs in 5.5 overs for the loss of only one wicket to celebrate a 24-point haul.Derbyshire were in a hopeless position overnight on 189 for 7, only 11 runs in front, with rain their only hope of avoiding another defeat. Although the skies over the County Ground were grey, the weather was dry and the match resumed on time.Richard Johnson had shown determination to keep the Sussex attack at bay but he lasted only three more overs as Sussex claimed the new ball immediately. They did not have long to wait for the breakthrough with Johnson pulling James Anyon to fine leg where Magoffin took the catch and Sussex struck again in the next over.Magoffin beat Tim Groenewald’s attempted drive which left Mark Footitt to get the home side past 200 with a couple of fours, before he was caught behind going for another big drive at the same bowler.It became a case of how long Sussex would take to wrap up the win. They lost Chris Nash for a duck when he edged an attempted cut at Groenewald into Johnson’s gloves. But Wells clipped and drove Groenewald for boundaries and Mike Yardy showed he wanted to get the job done in a hurry by driving and pulling the seamer for consecutive fours in the fifth over. Wells hit the winning runs in the sixth over when he lifted Footitt over the slips to the third-man boundary to complete a comprehensive victory for Sussex.

Somerset 184 for 2 (Trescothick 87, Trego 75*) beat Unicorns 183 for 8 (Elstone 75*, Meschede 2-15) by 8 wickets
ScorecardMarcus Trescothick blasted eight sixes in a whirlwind 87 to lead Somerset to an emphatic eight-wicket win over Unicorns in a one-sided game at Taunton.The hosts needed only 15.3 overs to chase down a target of 184, with Trescothick making his runs off just 49 balls and opening partner Peter Trego smashing 75 not out off 38 deliveries, with 10 fours and four sixes.Scott Elstone’s 75 not out was the backbone of a Unicorns total of 183 for 8 after losing the toss. Tom Lancefield hit 38, while Craig Meschede was the pick of the Somerset bowlers with two for 15 from his eight overs.The result was never in doubt once Trescothick and Trego cut loose with a brutal attack on the Unicorns bowlers. Trescothick hit four sixes off consecutive balls from Josh Poysden and three in succession off Garry Park. He was finally caught at long-off and the successful bowler Paul Hindmarch had Jos Buttler taken at backward square-leg off his next ball.But by then the outcome had been settled. Trescothick ended with seven fours to go with his abundance of sixes, at times appearing to flick to ball over the ropes with nonchalant ease.Despite the best efforts of Lancefield and Elstone, Unicorns were never able to gain the necessary momentum to their innings in excellent batting conditions.Former Surrey batsman Lancefield impressed at the top of the order, finding the boundary four times in his 42-ball innings. But Trego struck twice in the first seven overs, sending back Lewis Hill and Michael O’Shea with only 32 on the board.Lancefield departed with the score on 65, caught behind to give Meschede the first of his two wickets. The second was former Somerset favourite Keith Parsons, also taken by wicketkeeper Buttler, for a third-ball duck, having received a rousing ovation from home fans.In between Meschede’s wickets, leg-spinner Max Waller had Park caught at deep square off a slog sweep for 22 and it was left to Elstone to boost a modest total with some quality shots, including a six over long-on off Lewis Gregory.

ScorecardTrinidad & Tobago extended their lead over Jamaica by two points to move to the top of the table with a three-wicket victory at Sabina Park. Jamaica were put in to bat, but were reduced to 4 for 3 thanks to the opening combination of Shannon Gabriel and Yannick Ottley. Andre McCarthy (88) and Jermaine Blackwood (85) put up 147 runs for the fifth wicket to wrest some control in the match. However once they perished, the rest of the order fell limply for single-digit scores as Jamaica were dismissed for 225 in the 46th over. Gabriel was the pick of the bowlers with his four for 34, and ws ably supported by Yannick’s 3 for 37.T&T lost Adrian Barath early on for 9, before opener Lendl Simmons and Kjorn Ottley put on a 88-run stand for the second wicket. Despite T&T losing four wickets for the addition of only 15 runs in the middle overs, with Nkrumah Bonner picking up three scalps, they were able to successfully pull off the chase with just two balls to spare. This result puts them in a healthy position for qualification into the semi final round, which begins April 18.
ScorecardLeeward Islands won their rain-affected encounter over Barbados by 22 runs (D/L method) in St. Kitts, registering their fist win of the tournament. Barbados elected to bat fist, with the openers putting up a solid 49-run stand. From then on it was Tonito Willett show, as he rampaged through the batting order, picking up career-best figures of 6 for 19. His spell was influential as Barbados were dismissed for 164 in the 47th over.When rain intervened through the course of the match, Leeward Islands were set a target of 104 to chase from 33 overs. Opener Lyndel Richardson and Shane Burton were dismissed with the score on 21, with Kieran Powell following suit to reduce Leeward to a precarious 28 for 3. Devon Thomas (36) and Jahmar Hamilton (33) helped lend a hand as they took Leeward Islands to victory when it was discovered that they were 22 runs ahead of the par score.

Zimbabwe Cricket (ZC) is set to announce former international Andy Waller as the new national coach. Waller will begin the job ahead of the home series against Bangladesh, which begins on April 17. He was the preferred candidate from a shortlist that included assistant coach Stephen Mangongo and current batting coach Grant Flower.The fate of the rest of Zimbabwe’s support staff is not known, ESPNcricinfo has learned. Bowling coach Heath Streak has not been informed whether his contract, which expired yesterday, will be renewed and he is not part of preparations for the series against Bangladesh. Neither Streak nor Flower traveled with the team on their recent visit to the West Indies because of a change to ZC’s policy on touring parties.Waller held the role previously, in 2009, when he was coaching manager of Zimbabwe. He had also been in charge of Namibia and the Mid-West Rhinos franchise. His first task will be to reinvigorate the players, as Zimbabwe prepare to host an international side for the first time in 18 months. They play Bangladesh in two Tests in Harare, followed by three ODIs and two Twenty20s, all in Bulawayo. Bangladesh just completed a tour of Sri Lanka, where they shared the ODI series and lost the Tests and the only T20.Zimbabwe lost all seven matches they played in the Caribbean, which was Alan Butcher’s last series as coach. The lead up to the tour had been marred by controversy. Apart from the decision to leave Streak and Flower at home, there was also an intense debate between ZC and the country’s sports ministry about a new regulation concerning the composition of selection committees.In its first proposal, the ministry wanted all selectors to be former internationals, and because the Zimbabwe coach is also a selector it would have ruled out someone like Mangongo. The regulation has been relaxed but it would have had no bearing on the appointment of Waller, who represented Zimbabwe in two Tests and 39 ODIs between 1987 and 1997.Waller will succeed Butcher, who took over in March 2011 and oversaw Zimbabwe’s return to Test cricket later that year, but they could not sustain their positive start. After beating Bangladesh in a one-off Test and an ODI series, Zimbabwe lost at home to Pakistan and New Zealand, were badly beaten in New Zealand and then had a break for a full year before touring West Indies.

Owais Shah could become the first English cricketer to be a full-time freelance player as the growing influence of T20 leagues makes itself felt on county cricket.Shah, who is currently contracted to Essex, has become a regular on the T20 circuit, appearing in the Big Bash League, the IPL and, most recently, the Bangladesh Premier League. With T20 leagues also set-up in Sri Lanka and Zimbabwe and new leagues scheduled for the Caribbean and, in theory at least, the USA and Pakistan, Shah may be among the first to decide his future lies as a travelling freelance with no permanent affiliation to any of the first-class counties.While several players from other countries – the likes of Scott Styris and Dirk Nannes – have already made the decision to pursue their careers as unattached cricketers, no English player has yet successfully managed it. Andrew Flintoff might have been the first had injury not intervened.Shah’s T20 ambitions are understandable. Aged 34 and with very little chance of regaining an England place, he may consider there is little point in continuing a first-class career if it conflicts with opportunities to secure his family’s financial future over the last few years of his career by concentrating on T20 cricket. The lure of helping Essex battle their way out of Division Two of the County Championship may well have paled by comparison.Counties are also growing increasingly uneasy about the disruption caused by players missing part of the domestic season. Nottinghamshire have already forbidden their contracted players from playing in the IPL this year and other counties may, in time, follow suit.”We continue to assess our options and opinions over the IPL,” Essex’s head coach, Paul Grayson, told ESPNcricinfo. “Any coach will tell you about the benefits of having a settled team and you just have to look at the success of Derbyshire last year to see that. They got off to a good start and went on to win promotion, while we missed our IPL players for the first seven Championship games and were always playing catch-up.”Of course we can understand players wanting to take part in these leagues. It’s a short career and who wouldn’t want to earn as much as they can? We all understand that and not many of us would turn it down. And, to be fair to Ryan ten Doeschate and Owais, the players we will miss this year, they are absolutely committed to Essex whenever they are here.”But maybe enough is enough. Maybe the time has come to put our foot down. We want our players to be 100 percent committed to Essex and we do have the option of refusing to issue No Objection Certificates if we feel that is the right route to go down. I suppose there is a worry that players might consider moving to another county if we did that, but these are the issues we are continually discussing.”Grayson has previously indicated that the county could follow Nottinghamshire’s example in the future.”The message sent out by Mick Newell, the director of cricket at Nottinghamshire, was very good,” Grayson said. “He was saying, ‘We’re a big club and we have ambitions.’ He has good players and he wants to make use of them to win trophies.”We knew when we signed Owais that he was keen to play in these T20 leagues and we made a verbal agreement with him then. He is contracted to us from June until the end of the season and it may be that, after that, we decide that agreement doesn’t work for us anymore. Who knows: maybe he could end up signing a T20 deal with Essex?”We are going to see freelance players very, very soon and it could be that Owais is one of the first.”

Mohammad Asif, the Pakistan fast bowler, has presented his case to have his ICC ban for spot-fixing overturned to the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS).Asif appeared before CAS in Lausanne, Switzerland, on Thursday to try and have his seven-year ban, with two years suspended, quashed but will have to wait at least three weeks for an outcome and it could take as many as six.”Today was quite busy,” Asif told AFP after emerging from the CAS headquarters. “They will give us their decision in the next three weeks. Hopefully I am going to win this case. I’d like to play cricket again.”Salman Butt, the former Pakistan captain, will have his hearing on Friday in an attempt to overturn his 10-year ban following the sting in August 2010 which exposed plans to bowl on-demand no-balls.On Wednesday Butt said in a statement that he wanted the chance to resume his career. “Cricket is my life and every single day that has passed has been so painful because I have not been able to play. All I want is an opportunity to get back into cricket whilst I am still young and I can still play well.”Mohammad Amir, the third player to be caught in the News of the World sting, decided not to appeal against the five-year ban against him. The ban does not permit the players to take part in any official match – international, domestic or club – until at least September 2015. All three players served time.Butt served seven months of a 30-month prison sentence, Asif was released from Canterbury Prison in Kent on June 3 last year after he served half of a year-long sentence while Amir spent three months in a young offenders’ institution after admitting his charge at a pre-trial hearing.

Ashley Giles knows he will be in for a few surprises as he takes over the coaching of England’s one-day sides, but he could have been forgiven if he was caught cold in his opening practice in Delhi.India’s capital is experiencing some of its most-bone chilling temperatures on record and it was 5C at best when he supervised his first session in light fog ahead of a warm-up match against India A in Delhi on Sunday. Back home in Birmingham on Friday, there were prospects of a positively warming 10C with even the promise of a sunny interval or two.Giles faces quite a challenge if England are to win his first series in charge. They have won only one ODI series in India, in 1984-5, and their last two visits have ended in 5-0 whitewashes for the home side.As for the weather, England might not have experienced their coldest day. Two more of their matches are in the northern outposts of Mohali, which they know well, and Dharmasala, in the foothills of the Himalayas. It is a stunning spot, but maximum and minimum temperatures are predicted to vary between -6C and 6C in the next four days – and the match is less than three weeks away.Even in England, an international is not thought to have taken place in temperatures quite as low as that. Kevin Pietersen, who was not always enamoured with the weather in northern England after returning from IPL, could be just one player in for a treat.Tim Bresnan donned a beanie to peer through the fog and predict that all would be well at the start of the Giles era. “He floated in and out during the Test series in his role as a selector, talked to some of the lads and it was good,” he said.”Most of the plans we use for one-day cricket are already in place and I think it will be pretty seamless for him to come in and pick up the reins. He’s quite chilled out but we’ll see what happens. He might fire a few rockets and surprise people. That’s what you get from a new coach and we’re looking forward to it.”One India A name familiar to England will be Sreesanth, the fast bowler, who returned to competitive cricket last month after an absence of a year with a career-threatening injury. Sreesanth spent two months in a wheelchair after two operations on his toes and has called the experience “the darkest phase of my life.”The side will be led by Tamil Nadu’s opening batsman Abhinav Mukund who Bresnan also know from the Test series in England during 2011.

Darren Sammy reiterated that West Indies are in Bangladesh to win the Test series 2-0 despite appearing more relaxed in Khulna than in Dhaka. West Indies held just one full training session on the eve of the second Test, after holding an optional session on Monday, the day after they arrived.”We had optional practice yesterday and most of the guys are little bit relaxed and well rested. We are here to do better than what we did in the last game,” Sammy said. “Last year we drew the first Test, this year we won it. We have one more Test to go and we’d do everything to win this Test match. We want to win the series 2-0.”West Indies are likely to play the same XI as in the first Test, but as Denesh Ramdin had hinted on Monday, Fidel Edwards could be drafted in from among the four reserve players. But it is unlikely Edwards would replace any of the spinners, despite Sunil Narine’s indifferent form in the first Test.Veerasammy Permaul too is likely to be given an extended run after taking three wickets in Bangladesh’s second innings, and showing maturity that has impressed the West Indies dressing room. The threat to Bangladesh, however, will come through the West Indies fast bowlers – Tino Best and Ravi Rampaul – who took seven second-innings wickets between them in Mirpur.Sammy also asked Bangladesh to remain patient and added that West Indies have been going through a similar phase of not being able to force a favourable result from tricky situations in Tests.”You see the No. 1 ranked team gets defeated by No. 4 ranked team. It is ultimately about how you go out and play on the pitch. A team must have patience, consistency and discipline in their approach.”On a last day pitch, chasing 250-plus is a difficult task. I think it is all in the experience for both teams. We have been in similar situations so it’s good that we are developing,” he said.Despite Bangladesh’s runs, West Indies did bowl out the home side twice in the first Test, a point Sammy made to remind the Bangladesh batsmen led by the aggressive Tamim Iqbal at the top of the order to be on alert. “I have always watched Tamim [Iqbal] score runs quickly. We have a lot of aggressive players in our line-up too. I expect them to come hard at us, but if we stick to our line and lengths, we believe we could get 20 wickets,” Sammy said.Tamim, whose injured elbow kept his participation in the second Test in doubt, has been declared fit to play.