Ashton Turner will return to Durham for the T20 Blast after Tristan Stubbs’ call-up for South Africa A’s tour to Sri Lanka ruled him out of a planned stint in the north east.Turner captained Durham in 2022 but his time with the club was affected by a shoulder injury sustained on debut, and he made 124 runs in his eight appearances.He returns to the UK after a stellar home season in Australia, lifting both the Big Bash and the Marsh Cup as captain and also featuring in Western Australia’s successful Sheffield Shield season.”It is great news to have Ashton returning to Durham this season,” Marcus North, Durham’s director of cricket, said. “He joins us on the back of an outstanding season for Perth Scorchers and Western Australia, where his experience and leadership skills have once again been evident for all to see.”Related

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“I’m excited to be joining up with Durham again for this year’s Blast campaign,” Turner added. “We have an exciting squad, and we have high expectations for the group this year. Hopefully we can achieve some success and have some fun along the way.”Stubbs was initially expected to join up with Durham straight after the IPL, but last month was included in South Africa A’s touring squad to play four 50-over games and two red-ball fixtures in Sri Lanka in June.Durham are one of five counties without a Blast title, and have not reached the knockout stages in any of the last four seasons. They start their 2023 campaign away at Northamptonshire on Friday night.

“I don’t think we gave that 100% effort every single time,” admits West Indies’ captain

ESPNcricinfo staff01-Jul-2023

West Indies, two-time former champions, are going to be absent from an ODI World Cup for the first time when the tournament takes place in India later this year. The issues for West Indies start from the foundation of the game back home, captain Shai Hope said after the defeat to Scotland ended their qualification hopes in Harare on Saturday, adding that “we can’t come here and expect to be an elite team without that backing and preparation”.”It starts from the foundation. Preparation needs to be better. That’s from back home,” Hope told Ian Bishop on the official broadcast. “So, yeah, it starts from there. We can’t just expect to wake up one morning and be a great team. There’s a lot of things that we need to focus on. And yeah, we need to control (what) we can control. Right now, we are here playing cricket, and we need to make sure we give our all to the West Indian fans.”West Indies came into the Super Six stage of the qualifying event in Zimbabwe without any points from the group stage, having lost to Zimbabwe and Netherlands, the two teams to move up from the same group. That meant they had to win every Super Six game to stand a chance, but fell short at the first hurdle, putting up a lacklustre show against Scotland to lose by seven wickets.Related

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“To be honest, it’s not one thing [I can] put my finger on. We definitely need to look at all the areas,” Hope said when asked if he knew where West Indies fell short. “Certainly, I felt we let ourselves down here in the entire tournament. But yeah, we need to look at the way we start our innings [and] definitely the fielding.”The fielding has been one of the biggest concerns for the team, and the pedestrian performance against Zimbabwe earlier in the tournament – where catches went down frequently and there were misfields galore – even invited harsh words from Daren Sammy, the coach, and Hope.”I probably have to say [it’s] the mindset – fielding is really and truly an attitude, in my opinion, and I think we need to give a bigger effort, especially with the attitude,” Hope said. “Catches will be dropped, misfields will happen, it’s part of the game, but the effort needs to remain. I don’t think we gave that 100% effort every single time. We did it in patches, but we certainly need to improve in that.”Against Scotland, West Indies lost the toss and were asked to bat. They were 30 for 4 inside seven overs, as the Scotland quicks – led by Brandon McMullen – struck at will, almost, and then reached 81 for 6, their top-six batters gone, in the 21st over. There was a fightback after that, but not one of note.”We knew the conditions were definitely in the bowlers’ favour; the toss is really crucial here – we see every single captain [that] wins the toss elects to field first,” Hope said. “So we need to find ways to negate that early-morning movement. [But] again, we can’t really look at the past, we need to look at ways to move forward and get better.”We know there’s two more games left. We need to find a way to bounce back, finish the tournament positively at least.”We need to make sure we transfer the talent [back home] into consistent performances and that’s the only way we can rise in the rankings.”

Khushi’s hard-hitting 40 makes light work of small target in fourth innings

ECB Reporters Network27-Jun-2023Simon Harmer claimed the 14th ten-wicket match haul of his career as he helped Essex to a nine-wicket victory that catapulted them into second place in the Division One table.The South African off-spinner had played a key part in dismissing Warwickshire for 158 in the first innings with his 32nd five-wicket haul for the county, and he added No.33 second time around. He bowled unchanged from the River End throughout the 94 overs of Warwickshire’s second innings for match figures of 10 for 230. He now has 36 wickets this season.However, it was not all plain sailing for Harmer and his team-mates. That Essex did not have the win wrapped up much earlier was down to two lower-order half-century stands, both involving Yorkshire loanee Dom Bess (63).He shared 82 runs from 75 balls with Dan Mousley (61) for the seventh wicket, and 64 runs for the ninth with Jake Lintott, whose T20-esque hitting garnered him a career-best 78.The three of them helped take Warwickshire past and then beyond the total needed to make Essex bat for a second time. The Bears were eventually all out for 381, leaving Essex requiring 83 from a minimum of 122 overs.In the end they needed just 15 of them as Sir Alastair Cook (23 not out) and Tom Westley (12 not out) saw them over the line under leaden Chelmsford skies, reaching the target with four byes. However, en route they lost the aggressive Feroze Khushi who hit two sixes and five fours in a 46-ball 40 before chipping up to bat-pad off the ubiquitous Bess.The back-to-back home wins provided ample amends for Essex’s only defeat in the LV= Insurance County Championship this season in the corresponding fixture at Edgbaston last month.With 299 the target to make Essex bat again, Rob Yates and Will Rhodes, the not-out overnight pair, looked as if they were going to dig in until Christmas. They knocked off 31 in the first 55 minutes of the third day.However, the early tension in the home camp was eased when Jamie Porter brought one in from outside off-stump to Rhodes and Will Buttleman took the catch down legside. Rhodes batted for 118 balls for his 46.Five overs later, Yates became Harmer’s 400th first-class wicket for Essex when the left-hander leaned forward tentatively and fell to another catch behind.Warwickshire sent in Ed Barnard to break up the left-handed sequence at the top of the order. He did not last long, dollying a leading edge off Doug Bracewell to mid-off.Jacob Bethell had looked composed, driving the majority of his seven fours through the covers, but he departed to a bat-pad catch off Matt Critchley for 36. Three balls on, the leg-spinner who has gained a reputation this season as a ‘golden arm’, also accounted for Michael Burgess, caught by a diving Cook at slip.The 21-year-old Mousley reached his fourth Championship fifty of the season during a Harmer over from which he plundered 18 runs.However, as so often, Harmer had his revenge when Mousley charged down the wicket in an attempt to land a fourth maximum and was stumped by several country miles. His disgust with himself was plain to see.Hassan Ali cracked Critchley for a six but his was a short stay as he picked out Khushi at deep midwicket to give Harmer his fourth wicket of the innings.Eight-down, Warwickshire were then still 30 runs away from returning Essex to the crease, but Bess reached a well-deserved fifty just before that breakthrough point was reached in the 83rd over. He departed in an eventful over from Porter in which he hooked a six, was dealt a painful blow in the solar plexus and nicked behind.Lintott’s maiden first-class fifty came at a run-a-ball and had Essex struggling to defend the boundary, His free-wheeling innings of 14 fours and two sixes was ended when Khushi held on in the deep to provide Harmer with another match-ball for his burgeoning collection.

Manchester United could reportedly be shock contenders to sign £60m-rated Viktor Gyokeres as Sir Jim Ratcliffe's brutal cost-cutting bears fruit.

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Man Utd seeking attacking reinforcementsBattling Arsenal to sign GyokeresCould get their man after a drop in expenditureFollow GOAL on WhatsApp! 🟢📱WHAT HAPPENED?

According to the Sporting Lisbon frontman, who is attracting serious attention this summer, could now be on his way to the Premier League with the Red Devils making a strong case for his signature. A significant overhaul in United's financial structure has freed up funds for investment, and the club appears set to challenge Arsenal for Gyokeres, who was previously more closely linked with a move to North London.

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United’s latest quarterly financial statements have revealed a marked reduction in operational spending, trimming down by £41.6 million ($56.29m) to £162.1m ($219m). These savings come as part of a wider efficiency drive led by Ratcliffe, whose INEOS-led group has taken the reins of football operations at the club. Despite the club’s enormous financial burden, notably the eye-watering £1.2 billion spent servicing debt accrued during the Glazer family's ownership, the cost-cutting measures have allowed United to realign their spending with long-term sustainability in mind.

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Arsenal have had their sights set on Gyokeres for some time, but with their attention also drawn to RB Leipzig’s Benjamin Sesko, Manchester United sense an opportunity to make their move. The striker has a release clause set at £85m ($115m), but sources suggest that Sporting would be willing to consider offers in the region of £60m ($81.19m), a figure United could now realistically meet given their reduced expenses and recalibrated financial priorities.

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Getty ImagesWHAT NEXT FOR MANCHESTER UNITED?

Gyokeres isn’t the only name on United’s summer wishlist. The club has already sealed a £62.5m ($82.5m) agreement for Wolves forward Matheus Cunha and are believed to be deep in talks with Brentford for Bryan Mbeumo in a deal worth around £55m ($74.5m). These moves point to a busy window ahead as Ruben Amorim seeks to rejig a squad that has grossly underperformed in recent seasons.

Barcelona sporting director Deco has given an early indication as to what the club hopes to achieve in this summer transfer window.

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• Deco addresses recruitment plans
• Barcelona confident as summer hits
• No forced key player sales expected

• WHAT HAPPENED?

  Deco spoke to about a range of topics that included Barcelona's plans in terms of recruitment – with mentions of Marcus Rashford and Luis Diaz – and how to address the futures of their current players.

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  Barcelona's alarming financial situation continued in 2024-25, with an almost catastrophic scenario developing around the registration of Dani Olmo. But with Camp Nou's renovation nearing its latter stages that will boost revenues and a lucrative new contract with Nike to kick in, Deco appears hopeful that things are looking up. He is also confident that, despite everything that has happened, players are still attracted to joining Barcelona.

• WHAT DECO SAID

  "[Barcelona will] not sell our best players [and] can grow with many of the same players," Deco explained. "[It will be] two, three or four signings, [without recruiting] like crazy."

  But he refused to say too much when pressed about reported targets Marcus Rashford and Luis Diaz in deference to Manchester United and Liverpool respectively.

  "They are good but have contracts in their clubs, so we won't speak because it's not fair. But when you decide to go to the market, for sure, we find some names. In my opinion, we don't need to bring many players," Deco said.

  "When I speak with the agents of the players, everyone wants to come or stay. So this is important. The image of the club is still good. We are proud because Barcelona is still such a big club, and the way we are playing football makes players want to come."

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  WHAT NEXT FOR BARCELONA?

  Barcelona aren't taking part in the upcoming FIFA Club World Cup, which is disappointing for the accountants because of the vast additional revenue on offer from the tournament. But it does mean that attention can be fully focused on recruitment and squad planning for next season right away, rather than potentially being delayed until the second half of July.

Barcelona's return to Camp Nou has been scrapped as permit issues forced the Joan Gamper Trophy clash with Como to be moved to Johan Cruyff Stadium.

• Gamper Trophy vs Como moved from Camp Nou
• No permit granted for large crowd access
• Johan Cruyff Stadium will host the match

• WHAT HAPPENED?

  According to , Barcelona's much-anticipated return to Camp Nou has been cancelled. The club’s traditional Joan Gamper Trophy clash against Como on August 10 will now take place at the Estadi Johan Cruyff instead. This decision comes after the Barcelona City Council declined to issue the crucial First Occupancy permit needed to allow fans back into the renovated stadium. Without the license, hosting more than 30,000 people would be impossible.

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  The Catalan giants were hoping to reopen Camp Nou after receiving the initial activities and work permits, but talks with the council revealed that full access to some areas of the stadium was not feasible. The club also floated a partial opening but were ultimately denied and must now reconsider event logistics and fan communication, especially given the size difference between Camp Nou and the 6,000 capacity Johan Cruyff Stadium.

  Meanwhile, Estadi Olimpic Lluis Companys
  , where they played their home matches last season, was not a fallback option either due to a scheduled Blackpink concert on August 9 and other concerts running through mid-September.

• DID YOU KNOW?

  The Joan Gamper Trophy, named after Barcelona’s founder, is traditionally held at Camp Nou to kick off the season, but for the second consecutive year, it won’t be played there due to ongoing renovations. This year’s match will see former Barcelona star Cesc Fabregas return as an opponent, now serving as Como’s manager.

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  WHAT NEXT FOR BARCELONA?

  The Blaugrana club will now begin preparing Estadi Johan Cruyff for the August 10 fixture and will release revised ticketing plans for fans. The official return to Camp Nou is now set for either September 13 or 14, when they will play against Valencia in La Liga, pending final approvals from the City Council.

Bayern Munich’s rising talent, Lee Hyunju, has signed with Portuguese club FC Arouca, but it wasn’t the transfer itself that grabbed headlines. Instead, it was the club’s unique and hilarious announcement that went viral on the internet as it was inspired by Astronomer CEO, Andy Byron's kiss cam moment, at a Coldplay concert.

Byron meme invades football transfers Portuguese club goes viral with unique video Announcement AV won over the internet Follow GOAL on WhatsApp! 🟢📱WHAT HAPPENED?

The jumbotron meme gained widespread traction after a now-infamous incident at Coldplay’s July 16 concert at Gillette Stadium in Foxborough, near Boston. During the performance, a camera zoomed in on two audience members, Byron and Kristin Cabot, the Astronomer's head of HR. When the cameras focused on the pair, Cabot hid her face in embarrassment, whereas Byron dodged away and ducked to avoid the lenses. The awkward exchange left the crowd buzzing, and frontman Chris Martin even joked, “Either they’re having an affair or they’re very shy".

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The aftermath of the viral video was swift. Andy Byron stepped down from his role as CEO of Astronomer just days after the event went public. Kristin Cabot, the company’s HR head, was reportedly placed on administrative leave. Social media was flooded with commentary, memes, and parodies of the moment, giving birth to the “Coldplaygate” meme. Arouca’s social media team saw the opportunity to ride the wave of internet humour by creatively adapting the jumbotron theme to introduce their new recruit, Lee Hyunju, adding a lighthearted twist to the otherwise standard signing announcements.

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GettyWHAT NEXT FOR BAYERN?

Bayern Munich are in the midst of their offseason following a frustrating end to their Club World Cup campaign. The German giants fell 2-0 to Paris Saint-Germain in the quarterfinals, cutting short their title ambitions in the international tournament. Bayern’s first pre-season friendly will be against Lyon on August 2, followed by another high-profile clash against Premier League side Tottenham Hotspur in Munich on August 7.

England captain praises young spin attack despite India inflicting first series defeat of his tenure

ESPNcricinfo staff26-Feb-2024Ben Stokes refused to criticise his side’s second-innings batting effort after England saw an opportunity to square the series with victory in Ranchi slip by. Having taken a lead of 46 on first innings, England were bowled out for 145 on day three, in conditions Stokes described as close to “impossible” to bat on, as India regrouped to secure a five-wicket win on the fourth afternoon.Only Zak Crawley, who made his third half-century of the series, and Jonny Bairstow, with 30 off 42, provided scores of note as England steadily lost momentum after a positive start. Ben Foakes grafted almost an hour and a half for 17 off 76 balls while batting with the tail, with England losing their last seven wickets for 35 runs from 25.5 overs, India’s spin trio of R Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja and Kuldeep Yadav sharing all ten wickets between them.Victory for India saw them take an unassailable 3-1 lead in the series ahead of the final Test in Dharamsala, starting on March 7.Related

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Stats: India extend their series winning record at home

Asked about his side’s batting overall at the post-match presentation, Stokes said, “I think we’ve been good in periods. If we look at yesterday, when we had our turn with bat, [it was] I think – I don’t want to say impossible, because I don’t think anything is impossible – but that was incredibly hard yesterday, when you get conditions against Ashwin, Jadeja and Kuldeep like that. Scoring becomes very, very hard, especially when you want to eke the game out as long as we wanted to do.”We didn’t think the pitch was going to get any better, and I think we’ve seen that today. So look, I think the way in which the Indian spinners operated yesterday made it incredibly hard for us to score but also to rotate the strike. That little period there was very, very tough.”Cricket is a game of skill against skill, isn’t it?” he added, speaking to TNT Sport. “When you look at it like that, skill vs skill their skill was better than ours on this occasion.”Having been set a target of 192 to win, India’s openers proceeded to knock off 40 in eight overs before close on day three. Rohit Sharma and Yashasvi Jaiswal then took their stand to 84 the next morning before Joe Root made the breakthrough for England. That triggered a spell in which India lost 5 for 36 either side of lunch, as Tom Hartley and Shoaib Bashir cranked up the pressure, before an unbroken partnership of 72 between Shubman Gill and Dhruv Jurel took India home.

“I think so far this series, not only has that brought out a lot of talent not only for us, but also for India. I’m a massive cricket fan, I love Test cricket. And I think on both sides, we’ve seen some young, inexperienced players come out and I think the future is great for Test cricket”Ben Stokes

“I think it was a great Test match,” Stokes said. “If you look at the scoreboard, India win my five wickets, I don’t think it really gives enough credit to the game as a whole. The amount of ebbs and flows, every single day that happened, and I’ve got to give so much credit to our spinners, Tom Hartley and Shoaib Bashir. To come out and put in that performance throughout the whole Test match, but in particular today, being exposed in situations like that at such an early start of their career, I mean, incredible. I couldn’t be more proud of those two in particular, but obviously very proud of the team throughout this whole week and what we’ve thrown at India.”Bashir, the 20-year-old offspinner playing his second Test, claimed the first five-wicket haul of his first-class career in India’s first innings, going on to finish with match figures of 8 for 198, while Hartley picked up 4 for 138 to move ahead of Jasprit Bumrah as the leading wicket-taker for the series. Between them, they bowled 51 of the 61 overs in India’s second innings.Although Hartley’s seven-for on debut had helped bowl England to victory in the first Test in Hyderabad, as a marker of the attack’s inexperience, Ranchi was only the eighth time he had bowled in the fourth innings of a first-class game. Bashir had done so once previously for Somerset, delivering two overs as Surrey knocked off a target of 29.”It was amazing,” Stokes told TNT. “Not only the way in which they performed but I think their character as well. It should be very, very intimidating for two young spinners at the start of their careers to come out on day four to try and bowl India out for a pretty small target. We thought we were always in the game because of the wicket, and not once did they take a backward step, not once did you look at their body language or their enthusiasm towards the game and think that we were beat.”Shoaib Bashir struck off consecutive deliveries after lunch to bring England back in the contest•Getty ImagesOf his approach to captaining his young spin attack on tour, which has also included 19-year-old Rehan Ahmed, Stokes said, “That’s the way I am as a person. That’s who I am as a captain. It’s allowing these young guys to come into a pretty intimidating situation, Test cricket against India, who are an incredibly hard team to come out here and play against and, you know, just allowing them the freedom to run up and treat every ball as an occasion rather than thinking about something that’s already happening and can’t be changed.”I think so far this series, not only has that brought out a lot of talent not only for us, but also for India. I’m a massive cricket fan, I love Test cricket. And I think on both sides, we’ve seen some young, inexperienced players come out and I think the future is great for Test cricket.”England’s third defeat in a row after having taken a surprise 1-0 lead, means Stokes and Brendon McCullum have suffered their first series loss since taking charge of the Test team in the summer of 2022. But Stokes praised the effort put in by his players, without focusing too much on the result – much as he had done through a run of 13 wins in 18 matches prior to coming to India.”You come into series and obviously want to win, you want to win games of cricket,” he said. “But you know, I’ve been here for two years and my message is consistent. It’s about the input that everyone gives to the team. If you worry too much about the output, I think we’re not committing as much as we can do as individuals and as a team. Everyone, every Test match here has thrown absolutely everything they can out in the field. Nothing has ever been left out on that field. And that’s all we ask of our players.”

Angelo Mathews has had quite the ride over the last ten years. He was once the crown-prince of Sri Lanka’s white-ball teams, and then became the injury-riddled senior as the men’s team’s results plummeted, before eventually the previous set of selectors deployed him only in Tests – an experience that frustrated Mathews substantially.However, Monday’s knock in the second T20I against Afghanistan was Mathews’ best since his comeback to the T20I side over the past few weeks. He came in at No. 7 in the 15th over, and though he struggled early, making only four off his first nine balls, he soon began to find the boundary.Mathews cracked three consecutive sixes off Azmatullah Omarzai to start the 19th over, and struck four sixes and two fours in all, finishing with 42 not out off 22 balls. Sri Lanka have been desperate for that kind of finishing firepower in their white-ball sides over the last two years.Related

• Mathews, bowlers rout Afghanistan to seal T20I series for Sri Lanka

• Wanindu Hasaranga, Sri Lanka's Kapil Dev-lite, does it again

“The plan was for Sadeera Samarawickrama to bat deep so that I could bat with freedom,” Mathews said of that innings, as he and Samarawickrama put on a fifth-wicket stand worth 66. “I struggled in the first ten to 15 balls. Every ball went to the fielder when I hit it initially. But I knew I could clear the boundary.”The way Sadeera was going I knew I could play my shots. I can improve further if I can get singles and twos in the first couple of deliveries.”Though fitness had become a sticking point between him and the selectors, and had infamously led to a public battle with the then-coach Chandika Hathurusinghe, Mathews has since made it a point to publicise his improvements on the fitness front. Now, picked again by a new group of selectors he gets on with, he has begun to produce serious results in T20Is.Sri Lanka will face tougher attacks than those of Zimbabwe and an Afghanistan team missing both Rashid Khan and Mujeeb Ur Rahman. But Mathews’ first two T20I innings in almost three years yielded 46 off 38 balls, and 66 not out from 51 deliveries in the first two T20Is against Zimbabwe. He didn’t get to bat in the third game, and got only 6 in the first T20I against Afghanistan, before the quickest innings of the lot came about in the second T20I.In addition to hitting 160 runs at a strike rate of more than 136 since his comeback, Mathews has also claimed five wickets, though at an economy rate of 8.95. Although Mathews was not available to bowl for fitness reasons several years ago, he has, more recently, again made bowling an important part of what he offers the team. But this is not without its drawbacks – he’d had to clear a fitness test on account of a tight hamstring before playing the match on Monday.But him taking the new ball in particular is handy for this Sri Lanka team, who are exploring the option of saving most of Matheesha Pathirana’s overs for the death. Pathirana’s strengths so far have been at the back end of an innings; he has been much less effective with the new ball. Five of Pathirana’s six wickets this series have come between overs 16 and 20.”Since the Zimbabwe series, I was told to bowl to help the balance of the side,” Mathews said. “At any moment I am ready to bowl. Selectors spoke to me too, and we had a decent chat. I am willing to give my 100%. I am enjoying my cricket, and want to do my best for the team.”

Defending champions take all 24 points with ruthless display at Canterbury

ECB Reporters Network22-Apr-2024

Surrey have beaten Kent by an innings and 37 runs in the Vitality County Championship at Canterbury.The reigning champions dismissed the hosts for 262 in their second innings, with Dan Worrall taking 4 for 31 and Cameron Steel, claiming 3 for 38. Steel remains the leading wicket-taker in the country this season, with 20 after three matches.Joey Evison made 53 and Matt Parkinson hit his highest first-class score of 39. But after a dogged rearguard action that saw them through the morning session, Kent subsided midway through the afternoon.The hosts were 120 for 5 overnight, still 179 runs in arrears, and their slim hopes of batting out the day were dealt a near-fatal blow when Ben Compton was out in the fifth over of the morning. Compton, unbeaten on eight overnight, chased a Worrall delivery that veered away and was caught behind.The home crowd, however, were pleasantly surprised by the way Evison and Parkinson survived the rest of the morning. Parkinson, promoted up the order to number eight, had spent the winter working on his batting as part of a concerted effort to shore up Kent’s lower order. Although there were a few alarms, by lunch Kent had reached 203 for six at lunch and the impossible now seemed merely improbable.Evison, however, fell to Tom Lawes in the afternoon’s third over. He cut Lawes for fours off successive boundaries to reach his half-century but then edged him behind.With Evison gone, Kent crumbled. George Garrett was lbw to Steel for four and Jas Singh went for a duck when Jamie Smith took a brilliant catch at short leg off the same bowler.Number 11 Arafat Bhuiyan had some fun with the new ball, flicking three consecutive balls from Kemar Roach for a six and two fours on his way to his highest championship score of 22 not out, making him the fourth Kent tail-ender to reach that personal landmark in this match, after Garrett and Singh hit their career-best scores in the first innings.This merely delayed Surrey’s celebrations, however, and an emphatic victory was sealed when Smith took another exceptional close catch to snare Parkinson off Kemar Roach. Surrey take 24 points and Kent two.