Gough on comeback trail

Darren Gough, sidelined since July with a knee injury, made a strong claim for his old England place on Sunday as Yorkshire beat Northamptonshire by an innings and a day to spare in the County championship.

The former England bowler finished with match figures of six for 81 as Yorkshire won by an innings and 343 runs at Headingley.

"It was a big test for me and I'm really pleased with the way it went. That's as well as I can bowl," Gough said, hinting at making a comeback to the England team.

"If I keep bowling like that, I'm sure they'll pick me," he added.

In other matches in the championship, Ian Ward hit an unbeaten 40 off as many balls as champions Surrey finished on 61-2 in their second innings after being asked to follow-on by Lancashire at the Oval.

They had been dismissed for 280 in their first innings in reply to Lancashire's massive 599 all out.

At Derby, Matthew Maynard struck 142 for Glamorgan, helping the Welsh side to 352 all out against Derbyshire.

The home side followed their first innings total of 420 with 189-5 at the close.

England spinner Ashley Giles played a captain's innings of 94 before taking the vital wicket of Usman Afzaal as Warwickshire kept their hopes alive of beating Nottinghamshire at Trent Bridge.

Nottinghamshire were 122-3 at stumps chasing a target of 264 to win.

At New Road, South African Nic Pothas hit 146 as Hampshire reached 347 all out against Worcestershire who in turn reached 187-5 at the close.

Sri Lanka's outgoing cricket coach Dav Whatmore says he will try to break the "defeatist attitude" of the Bangladesh national team, and is looking forward to the "enormous challenge" of coaching the whipping boys of world cricket.

Whatmore, who takes over as Bangladesh's coach next month, said his initial plan is to build individual players and give them confidence.

"There is good talent, but the team has a defeatist attitude," Whatmore told reporters at Colombo.

"What needs to be done is to change that basic attitude. When individual players perform better, the entire team will improve.This is a challenge and I am happy with challenges. I  always liked challenges," said Whatmore, who coached Sri Lanka to its 1996 World Cup triumph.

Bangladesh have yet to win a Test match since being granted Test status in 2000 and have lost 35 of their last 36 one-dayers with one game rained off.

The Board of Control for Cricket in Sri Lanka (BCCSL) sacked Whatmore last month when it refused to extend his contract which was set to expire at the end of May.

"Whatmore has been with the team for a long time and what we feel is that there should be fresh thinking," said Anura Tennekoon, the board's chief executive officer.

Whatmore, a Sri Lanka-born Australian national, said he and his family will be leaving Sri Lanka with mixed feelings.

"We dearly love this country and its people and wish to thank them for their incredible support wherever we travelled in the island," he said.

Whatmore admitted his relations with some of the Sri Lankan cricketers and officials had been strained at times, but declined to discuss details.

Australia will be reinforced by the arrival of fast bowler Glenn McGrath for the third and fourth Tests in the West Indies.

McGrath missed the first two games of the series after returning home because his wife, Jane, was diagnosed with a secondary cancer infection in her hip.

"She started treatment last week and that's gone very well.

"Jane just wants a bit of normality back in her life and for her, that's me playing cricket," he said, prior to flying out from Sydney airport.

According to BBC Sports, McGrath will arrive in time to play in a three-day game against a University of West Indies XI, prior to the Tests in Barbados and Antigua and seven one-day internationals.

Darren Lehmann has revealed that a phone call from former Test leg-spinner and good friend Peter McIntyre spurred him to his maiden Test century, which came against the West Indies in the second Test.

Days after admitting he was under pressure to retain his spot, Lehmann's thumping 160 against the West Indies was the breakthrough innings he needed to dispel the theory he is not of Test standard.

It was his first three-figure score in 10 Tests. He also shared in an all-time third-wicket record stand for Australia, of 315, which helped the tourists to a commanding 3-391 by stumps on day one of the second Test.

According to The Daily Telgraph,  before Lehmann left for Queen's Park Oval on Saturday, he received a call from long-time South Australian teammate McIntyre.

"Peter McIntyre rang me this morning and said, 'Go out, play your own way and get a hundred'," Lehmann said. That he did.

"Everyone has been so supportive, my whole family and, to be fair, selectors have been great, and the coach and captain, everyone has been fantastic," he said.

"People have stuck by me through thick and thin, family members, my wife Andrea, the kids, all those people who have supported me -- Greg Chappell, Blewey, Peter McIntyre -- it's great to get the monkey off your back and make a contribution."