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It is a run that started nearly 23 years ago, in Sydney in March 1992, when India beat Pakistan in the first World Cup meeting between the two neighbours. There have been five more such encounters since, and India wrapped up their sixth straight World Cup win over Pakistan last night at Adelaide Oval. It is a perplexing blank across multiple eras for Pakistan, considering their strong overall record against India.At the post-match press conference, a blank-faced Misbah-ul-Haq, who had made yet another fighting half-century in a losing cause against MS Dhoni’s men, was asked if he could explain the reason behind 0-6. “I don’t know. This is happening. You can’t do anything about that,” was all the disappointed Pakistan captain could offer.Dhoni said that it was obviously something for India to be proud of, but he refused to read too much into the trend, holding that it was bound to end at some edition of the World Cup some day, and that Pakistan were a “fantastic side.””The record is good, but it is something that I don’t want to get into because there will come a time when we will lose, irrespective of whether it happens this World Cup, next World Cup or four World Cups down the line,” Dhoni said. “It is not something that will stay until the world exists. No point in really thinking about it.”Yes, we are proud of the fact that we have done it, but if you just see the stats, India-Pakistan stats, we are way behind when it comes to that. They have really dominated. I feel definitely the World Cup is something that we can, to some extent, be proud of, but overall you have to see, they are a fantastic side. They don’t have the kind of players that they had, but still, if you see from a talent point, they’ve got good fast bowlers.”

Scorecard and ball-by-ball details

With nuggety wicketkeeper Gary Wilson for company, the big-hitting Kevin O’Brien set right the mess he had left Ireland in with some ordinary plans and bowling at the death. Despite their blitz, Ireland didn’t finish the match easy. UAE kept scrapping, and by the time it ended Ireland had only two wickets in hand and four balls to spare.Thanks to the first World Cup and second ODI hundred for UAE, 106 off 83 by Shaiman Anwar, and a World Cup-record seventh-wicket partnership between Anwar and Amjad Javed – 107 in 11.5 overs – UAE recovered from 131 for 6 in the 35th over. They defended with passion and precision to have Ireland down at 97 for 4 and 171 for 5, but they wilted in the face of the onslaught from O’Brien and Wilson, dropping catches, misfielding, some of them walking off with cramps.It was an important match for Ireland to win. In the last World Cup, they had beaten England but lost to Bangladesh, thus losing out on a quarter-final spot. Having conceded 147 in the last 15 overs, a repeat of their poor death bowling against West Indies who recovered from 87 for 5 to post 300-plus, Ireland were staring at similar fate with their top order struggling for fluency, but their lower middle order and the famed luck of the Irish rescued them.O’Brien joined Wilson with 108 required off 68 balls and Wilson on 43 off 46, the only batsman remotely near a run a ball for Ireland. The first ball O’Brien faced he muscled it to mid-off. The second he pulled away for four. Business was about to pick up. You could see UAE were feeling the heat already. There had been literal heat too: they had lost their opening bowler Manjula Guruge to what looked like cramps. Others were falling too.

O’Brien fined for dissent

Kevin O’Brien was left to celebrate Ireland’s victory without 30% of his match fee after admitting showing dissent during the UAE innings.
O’Brien was charged with a Level 1 breach of the ICC code of conduct: “Showing dissent at an umpire’s decision during an international match”, which he pleaded guilty to.
After the first ball of the 48th over where O’Brien bowled a wide he continued to question the umpire’s decision until bowling the next delivery.

Mohammad Tauqir, the 43-year-old captain who had bowled beautifully with dip and drift for the wickets of William Porterfield and the other O’Brien, Niall, walked off in the 43rd over. Kevin O’Brien and Wilson had added 36 by then, but were yet to steal the game. O’Brien now lofted down the ground, and the substitute fielder, Nasir Aziz, managed just a parry for four over him. Before that too, Ireland had enjoyed a bit of luck. Ed Joyce added 16 after being bowled by Javed. Except the heavy LED bail just came off, lit, and went back into its groove.This drop of O’Brien was to prove costlier as he went on to demoralise the attack in his 25-ball 50. He hit eight fours and two sixes, but everything bowled to him was a candidate for being hit. By the time he fell to a slower ball from Javed, the equation had come down to 36 off 32. John Mooney can bat a bit, but he was struggling, which made Wilson’s role more important. He stayed calm except for one moment in the 47th over. With 21 required off 20, he went down on a knee to look to ramp Javed and missed. He was given not out presumably because he had got outside the line as is the case with such lbw appeals but the replays showed the ball had nipped back enough to hit him in front of off. Just when you thought UAE were going to get lucky, the replay also showed the ball to be only clipping the top of the stumps.Wilson then saw the struggling Mooney end his innings poorly, but seemed to have ended the game with back-to-back drilled boundaries down the ground in the 48th over. Javed, though, was not giving up yet. As Wilson looked to run the next, a shortish delivery, down to third man, Javed showed fearlessness by diving forward from short third man and sending Wilson back for 80 off 69. Twelve runs remained. Fifteen balls. And two wickets.Crucial runs with Anwar, hitting the stumps without removing the bail, taking three timely wickets and now this brave catch, Javed didn’t deserve to be on the losing side. It was down to him in the 49th over, with 10 runs to get. He began with two immaculate dots. The third one was a yorker dug out into the leg side, but Ireland stole a second with the fielder running in from the deep letting the infielder chase the ball, which goes against the norm. The game was still tight, but George Dockrell opened it up with a calculated loft over mid-off to make it three off seven.Javed was at the centre of every comeback UAE made. He was with Anwar when the two added 107 for the seventh wicket to expose Ireland’s ordinary death bowling again. O’Brien was the main culprit bowling short and wide with his off-side fielders in the ring. Anwar looked like Kamran Akmal in his relaxed stance, and the way he shaped up when playing his preferred shots square either side of the pitch, and took full toll of the poor bowling.Javed, who had played an important part in their score of 285 against Zimbabwe, kept bringing the big hits in. He didn’t get either of the new balls, with Guruge removing Paul Stirling – whose unbroken spell of 10-0-27-2 had handcuffed UAE – early. Javed should have had Joyce out on 21, but persisted long enough to send him back on 37. A rollercoaster followed, but Ireland’s experience prevailed in the end, with both the sides left looking back ruefully at their muddled bowling plans when put under pressure.

Bunch of winners, bunch of losers and now “bunch of semi-finalists heading for a World Cup win.” The last one does not quite have the same ring to it, but it’s what South Africa’s sports minister Fikile Mbalula came up with in his press release congratulating the side for their historic, first-ever knockout win at a World Cup.”This win ends a knockout victory drought that was brought upon us in the semi-final loss to England in 1992. Minister Mbalula thanks captain AB de Villiers for delivering on his promise that they won’t choke today and also thanks South Africans for their continued support to the national team,” the statement read.”Going into the semi-finals, the Proteas will need more of our support. Those who labelled them chokers can now call them ‘bunch of semi-finalists’ who are heading for a World Cup Win.”Mbalula has made a name shooting from the hip from it comes to national sports’ team’s performances. He famously called Bafana Bafana, the football team, a “bunch of losers,” when they failed at the Africa National Championships last year. Since then, he has been demanding a “bunch of winners,” from all other teams and de Villiers’ side has not escaped.”We are releasing you to go and win it for South Africa,” Mbalula ordered at the official send-off, when he also informed the team he would not travel to the World Cup unless they reached the semi-finals. He has yet to confirm his attendance in Auckland on Tuesday but retweeted a question asking if was traveling, perhaps in the hope of prompting his seniors.If he does not make it to New Zealand, Mbalula will be leading the supporters club back home, as he has done so far. He wears a South African shirt on every match day and follows all the matches closely on social media. A day before the quarter-final against Sri Lanka began he posted his usual war cry. “Don’t have mercy on them. MOER HULLE !!” and as the quarter-final began, he laid down the gauntlet: “Bunch of _________” wrote Mbalula before he filled in the blanks later.More measured reactions came from South African players who have been part of sides who could not get past the knockout rounds. Graeme Smith, who played in three World Cups between 2003 and 2011 and was in Melbourne for South Africa’s game against India, said he had a “lump in my throat watching our boys dominate today,” while Jacques Kallis, a five-time World Cup veteran, called it the “perfect game.”But the quietest celebrations came from the South African camp themselves, who refrained from over-the-top reactions to their quarterfinal win in an attempt to see the bigger picture. “We’ve hopefully still got two games left in this tournament,” de Villiers said.Nobody asked him whether he dedicated the quarter-final victory to the eccentric minister or expectant former team-mates but de Villiers seemed to understand the importance of gifting it to everyone in South Africa who had waited so long to see their team advance.”In tournaments like this you’re always under pressure and you want to do the people that support you, you want to do them proud, and you want to make them feel that they’re supporting the right team and they’re supporting for a good reason. So I’m very, very chuffed at the way we performed. It was a big pressure game, and we just showed everyone that we can do it,” he said.

The BCB will form a committee to investigate alleged match-fixing claims during the final round of this season’s National Cricket League, president Nazmul Hassan has said. The accusation has been laid on the Rangpur Division-Dhaka Metropolis match. Rangpur’s 102-run win had given them their maiden NCL title.”It was only after a television channel interviewed [BCB’s tournament committee chairman] Akram [Khan] (on Friday) that I became aware of the issue,” Hassan said. “I asked for the finer details. I feel we should investigate it because a complaint has been lodged. We will form a probe committee on Sunday.”The investigation will follow a complaint on March 19 by officials of Khulna Division to the BCB tournament committee. A recorded conversation between a Khulna official and a Dhaka Metropolis coach was also submitted. The board’s anti-corruption unit will first investigate the matter, followed by the investigation committee.Khulna, Rangpur and Dhaka Division were all on 96 points at the start of the final round of matches. On the third day, Khulna completed an innings-and-24-run win over Chittagong Division which helped them move to 120 points. Rangpur now needed 25 points to move ahead of Khulna. To achieve that, Rangpur had to bowl out Dhaka Metropolis on the fourth and final day, after setting them a 361-run target with a minimum of 80 overs left in the day.Dhaka Metropolis were bowled out in the 80th over for 258. While this match was going on, Khulna captain Abdur Razzak posted a status on Facebook alleging match-fixing in the NCL but didn’t specify any team or player. He later deleted the post.Akram told on May 14 that all proof will be passed on to the board’s disciplinary committee.”We will submit all acquired evidences to the disciplinary committee in a short period,” Akram said. “Later the hearing procedure will be conducted by a disciplinary panel before they move on to the next course of action, if required.”

ScorecardJack Taylor made his maiden first-class century to give Gloucestershire a third batting point•PA Photos

Jack Taylor lit up an otherwise cheerless day with his maiden first-class century to give Gloucestershire the upper hand over Derbyshire. Taylor made 120 from 139 balls to take Gloucestershire to 329 before Derbyshire closed day two 252 behind, with rain prevented any play after tea.Mark Footitt took three of the four Gloucestershire wickets to fall to finish with 4 for 60 while Tom Taylor ended his namesake’s excellent innings to record figures of 4 for 89.Michael Klinger had started the day seven short of a century but he fell to the sixth ball of the morning when he edged Footitt into the gloves of Harvey Hosein. Craig Miles went in his next over, also caught behind as he tried to take his bat away from another rapid delivery to leave Gloucestershire on 255 for 8 but Taylor again counter-attacked well, driving Tony Palladino over the top to pass his previous highest score of 63 and then pulling the seamer for six.After a brief interruption for bad light, Taylor and David Payne continued to frustrate Derbyshire with Taylor launching Tillakaratne Dilshan for six before the new ball was taken. Taylor reached his hundred off 122 balls before another short stoppage for rain and the ninth wicket pair took their stand to 74 before Taylor sliced a drive to third man.”It was important we got more than 300 and after Klinger was out it needed a mature innings,” Gloucestershire captain Geraint Jones said. “Jack batted in a mature way with controlled aggression. Credit to David Payne too for sticking with him and also credit to the bowlers for bowling tightly throughout.”Footitt had Liam Norwell caught behind in the next over following Taylor’s departure without scoring and batting became increasingly difficult when Derbyshire replied in gloomy conditions. Even with the floodlights on, the umpires took the players off for a third time before Ben Slater was taken low down at second slip off Norwell for 17.Chesney Hughes was missed by Jones at first slip on 5 but added only four before he edged a defensive push at Benny Howell and although Dilshan started by pulling Norwell for six; Godleman went 48 minutes without scoring a run. Both were grateful to get to tea but the rain set in during the interval and it was no surprise when play was abandoned shortly before 5pm leaving Godleman to reflect on a mixed day for Derbyshire.”We started very well and Footy bowled an excellent spell but I think in that situation you have to give credit to Jack Taylor, he chanced his arm very well and played some good cricket shots. But I would have liked us to execute our plans a little bit better.”

The Mumbai Cricket Association has decided to file an intervention application before the Supreme Court to highlight the “difficulties and inconsistencies” in the Lodha Committee’s report, making it potentially the first member unit of the BCCI to seek clarity on the committee’s recommendations. According to an MCA official, the key concerns highlighted in the application are the age limit of 70 for the office bearers, the cooling off period between terms in office, and bringing state associations under the purview of the RTI.Should the recommendations be accepted in their present form, it will become untenable for the incumbent president, Sharad Pawar, who is well over 70, to continue in office. MCA vice-president Ashish Shelar said the association was seeking advice from the Supreme Court on the implementation of the recommendations. “There is no objection. There are some difficulties about implementing [the recommendations] which we will point out to the court,” Shelar told ESPNcricinfo.”Right now the existence of MCA itself is in question [because of the one-state, one-vote recommendation], we will ask the guidance from the court on how to deal with it. We are doing that [pointing out that MCA is the oldest body in the state].”It has also emerged that many other member units, including the KSCA, TNCA and the Cricket Club of India, are likely to follow suit and file similar applications in the coming days. An official of the CCI, which according to the Lodha report has “no cause” to be treated as a Full Member, said after the SGM on Friday that it was contemplating an intervention application. “Our contributions to the BCCI over the years have been significant,” he said. “We will present our arguments to the Supreme Court.”The TNCA, it is learnt, is likely to be among the last few associations to make the intervention plea. “We are going to wait for associations like Mumbai and Maharashtra to make the first move,” a TNCA source said. “Because of the whole CSK episode we don’t want to be seen by the court to be in the forefront in opposing [the recommendations].”Meanwhile, the BCCI is expected to file its affidavit – one that will point out the “anomalies and difficulties” encountered in implementing the recommendations – in the next few days. According to a source privy to the goings on at the SGM on Friday, the BCCI was required to submit the affidavit “around February 25 or 26,” about a week before the deadline of March 3 that the Supreme Court had given for the BCCI to inform if it could implement the Lodha report.The source also said that the BCCI had encouraged its member units to file intervention applications to the Supreme Court, as each member had specific concerns that needed to be raised individually. BCCI secretary Anurag Thakur had in fact said after the SGM that the board could not stop the state associations from filing pleas to the Supreme Court.In an oral submission before the Supreme court on January 25, the Cricket Association of Bihar, the original petitioner, had sought a full implementation of the Lodha report.The BCCI’s legal counsel said the board found certain anomalies in the report and needed more time to further review the recommendations. Justice TS Thakur dismissed the request for any extension, and said the court was going to accept the Lodha report completely and implement it if the BCCI did not inform the court before the March 3 deadline.The Lodha committee, appointed by the Supreme Court in January 2015, recommended a complete overhaul of Indian cricket. Its report covered every aspect of the game with special focus on the BCCI’s administrative and governance structures and the issue of transparency.

West Indies allrounder Andre Russell has admitted he has not yet performed to his standard in the Pakistan Super League so far. Russell has scored 77 runs and taken eight wickets in seven matches for Islamabad United. On the eve of the eliminator against Karachi Kings, Russell said he had a clear goal: to “raise the bat” and keep Islamabad’s hopes of making the inaugural final alive.”I still haven’t done whatever I want to. I still haven’t achieved what I want to achieve as yet playing for Islamabad,” Russell told ESPNcricinfo on Friday. “And as of tomorrow I want to start that. I know whenever I go to bat, people are expecting big sixes and me to raise my bat. I haven’t raised my bat in months now. And I want to start that tomorrow.”Russell was named the Man of the Series of the IPL last year, where he played for Kolkata Knight Riders. He was also one of the best allrounders in the recently concluded Big Bash League, where his team Sydney Thunder won for the first time. His overall strike rate in T20s is 166.89, the highest among all 2000-plus run-getters. Still, Russell admits he is not the finished product.Despite his on-field performances not being spectacular, Russell said the PSL has been a good learning experience. “I know for sure by the time I leave, I’m going to learn a lot about how to play against left-arm orthodox. These teams have a lot of these spinners, boy. Even in the nets you would see them.”Even though Russell has been occasionally limited against spinners, he believes his game can overcome those obstacles. “At the end of the day playing spin is crucial in any form of the game, but in T20 cricket I don’t worry about spinners. I would prefer to bat spin more than pace. I love when the ball coming on (to the bat), but I would be more confident playing a shot against a spinner because I know that I have nothing to fear. If he spins the ball, he’ll beat me. Alright, he beat me. If I hit him for six, I win. I can sweep, but with my power I don’t really need to sweep sometime. But I can sweep to rotate strike.”Russell also said he was impressed by the emerging talent on show in the PSL. “A lot of talent in the PSL. This reminds me of playing in the Caribbean where you see so many (talented) guys. I ask a lot of of local guys here ‘Does this guy plays for Pakistan? I think he should play for Pakistan’ Russell said.

The ICC officials have expressed their concerns about the bowling actions of Taskin Ahmed and Arafat Sunny being suspect, which has left the Bangladesh team livid. Their coach Chandika Hathurusingha informed reporters that his team had received written and official communication from the match officials that they were “concerned” the actions of the duo. He said, though, that the duo was free to play and bowl for the time being. However, they will have to now go for a test of their actions within seven days of the report, which leaves Chennai centre as their only option if they are to continue taking part in the World T20.*Hathurusingha, though, didn’t feel there was anything suspect about their actions, and questioned the timing of this report – following their game against Netherlands on Wednesday – while they have been bowling “the same way for the last 12 months”.”If they have a concern about my bowlers, I have a concern about their [ICC’s] actions as well,” Hathurusingha said. “I don’t see anything wrong. They have bowled the same way as the last 12 months. As you said if they [the ICC officials] have officiated the matches they have been playing, they must have seen something different yesterday. That’s all I can say.”The report is made by the on-field umpires to the match referee, who communicates it to the team. To lend weight to Hathurusingha’s claim, one of the on-field umpires making this report, Rod Tucker, and the match referee for the match, Andy Pycroft, officiated in Bangladesh games in as recently as June 2015. Tucker was an on-field umpire when Bangladesh beat India 2-1 at home, and Pycroft was the match referee. Hathurusingha says the actions of the bowlers have not changed over the last 12 months.Asked how it affects his side now, Hathurusingha promised they were not going to change their actions. “It’s about how you take it,” Hathurusingha said. “As bowlers they are strong enough to understand what they are doing is right. We also think that we have no concern. They have played so much cricket, recently as well. It is a surprise for us. We have to take their concerns. They are only concerns at this stage. I don’t think it will affect the way we are playing.”Hathurusingha insisted in one word, “yes”, that he believed their actions were clean.The match officials have been in focus in the Dharamshala leg of the qualifiers after Oman revealed they were being subtly asked to refrain from mankading. They budged from their pro-mankading stance and agreed to warn the non-striker before running him out in the delivery stride.*12.00GMT, March 10: The article had initially mentioned the pair’s actions had to be tested within 14 days. This has been changed.

ScorecardNeil Wagner finished with 11 for 111 on his Lancashire debut•Getty Images

There was a point in the second hour of this day’s cricket when it was possible to believe that Brendon McCullum had never played the game, that the 20-over format was still an evening entertainment for club thrashers and that IPL was strong ale.Faced with a first-innings deficit of 90 and, equally significantly, facing bowlers of the quality of James Anderson, Kyle Jarvis and Neil Wagner, Nottinghamshire’s openers had little serious option but to block it out. And so they did. At lunch Steven Mullaney had made 15 runs off 82 balls and Greg Smith had garnered 17 off 68. Bowling analyses which had begun as rows of zeros turned into the codes for combination locks. Anderson 6-3-9-0, Jarvis 7-5-4-0. One really did not have to be an apologist for “proper cricket” or a doctrinaire opponent of T20 to appreciate what was “going off out there”. Chris Read’s batsmen were in the toils and they were taking the long road home. In less than a month this ground will resound to floodlit mayhem. What a game it is, some thought; it can accommodate both that and this.By close of play, however, it seemed Nottinghamshire will need a fightback fit to grab all of Thursday’s headlines if they are to avoid following their win against Surrey with a defeat to Lancashire, for whose players the last nine sessions of cricket have been richly encouraging.Led by Wagner, whose 5 for 45 gave him match figures of 11 for 111, the best analysis by a Lancashire debutant since Cecil Parkin’s 14 for 99 against Leicestershire in 1914, Steven Croft’s team dismissed Nottinghamshire for 175 a few overs before the close.Nottinghamshire’s batsmen had tried to grind it out but had instead been ground down themselves by a team whose cricket possessed a rare brio. All six of Chris Read’s specialist batsmen had got to double figures but none made more than Smith, who managed 41 in 165 minutes. The long road home had failed them. Unless Stuart Broad finds his best England form, they will have to settle for a quick getaway around lunchtime on Wednesday.The curious thing is, though, that Old Trafford is a fitting environment in which to examine the obvious dichotomy between T20 and four-day cricket. For the area seems gripped with architectural schizophrenia at the moment. The ground itself is gap-toothed now that the old Lodge has been knocked down and a posh new Hilton is being built. JCB has become as familiar a set of initials as LBW at Old Trafford these past few years.Further afield the area appears intent on either celebrating its industrial history of wharves and haulage – two giant cables decorate the pavement – or showing how modernity is all. Warehouses offer accommodation, glassed office blocks house technology start-ups and cranes fill the skyline. Manchester United, its metal roof a stupendous praying mantis of girders and struts, drives many developments. They offer rooms nearby at a place called Hotel Football; one wonders how many Armani-wearing consultants it took to dream that name up.Yes, back to the cricket and an afternoon’s sport played in glorious sunshine. The pace quickened a little but it was not until after tea, the 61st over in fact, that Nottinghamshire managed to rattle along at two runs an over. By then, though, they had haemorrhaged four big wickets.Mullaney lost his off stump to Anderson half an hour or so after the resumption to end a lively exchange between bowler and batsman which, we may assume, will “stay on the field”. It had featured Anderson walking backwards to his mark, facing the batsman throughout, presumably in order to maintain a Platonic dialogue; well, they are both former Academy cricketers. “I was just wondering how long it was going to be before he played a shot,” said a deadpan Anderson afterwards. “He likes a chat.”Anderson bowled for an hour and a half this Tuesday afternoon and there was little loose stuff in his 11-over spell. Such rectitude often takes wickets for other bowlers and that was the case here, perhaps, as Smith, having laboured for 131 balls, came down the wicket to drive Kerrigan through mid-on but only succeeded in giving a catch off the leading edge to Croft at short cover. Brendan Taylor followed four overs later when he clipped Jarvis’s first ball to Liam Livingstone at midwicket and once Michael Lumb had played across an inswinger from Wagner, Lancashire’s cricketers could even glimpse a Tuesday finish.That was not to be but the evening session still offered plenty of joy to the members sitting alfresco in front of the pavilion. Anderson removed Riki Wessels leg before when he played across a straight one and Burnley’s finest also polished off the innings on a day when he had pulled his tripes out, as they say up here, for the Red Rose. In between, Wagner, racing in as if a persistent PPI salesman was behind him, took four wickets in 19 balls. He was helped by a fine catch at deep square leg by Livingstone to get rid of Samit Patel and another at short-leg by Hasseb Hameed to remove Broad for just 4. This was a day on which all Lancashire’s players did something, and usually, as Julie Andrews cooed, it was something good.”We knew it would be tough at the start of the day,” Anderson said. “But we got a crucial lead and we knew every run would be crucial. The fielders were brilliant too, throwing themselves around trying to save every run, knowing how crucial it was. The pitch is as good as a Test pitch, there hasn’t been a huge amount there for the seam bowlers, so if you get in on it you can score runs on it.”Neil Wagner was fantastic again, he loves playing, he wants to do well for the team and has so much energy on the field. He never turns down the opportunity to have a bowl. He will be great for Crofty all year if he keeps going but he may lose a few inches in height if he keeps bowling on these wickets.”Yes, it was a day for Lancastrian good humour. After the chill conditions of the previous two days, the balmy atmosphere even persuaded some of the members to abandon their fleeces. One or two daring souls even tried pastel shades but one imagines they will be up before the committee on charges of levity. All the same, on the third day of this game it seemed that the season had truly started. “Now is the time,” sings the wonderful Nancy Kerr in the song of the same name. “Farewell my old discontent / Just as the heavens consent to burn / And turn cold days to fine.”And you know, if we hold our shovels level and speak when we’re spoken to, there will be over five months of this. What larks, eh, Pip? What larks.

ScorecardRuns in the family: Brett D’Oliveira joined his grandfather and father with a double century•Getty Images

Worcestershire were in complete control when the weather closed in at Cardiff, having reduced Glamorgan to 42 for 4 following Brett D’Oliveira’s history-making maiden double century.Rain arrived at 3.50pm – cutting 45 overs from the day – and with the weather forecast not good for the third day, it could help the home team avoid their third defeat in four games as they currently sit 414 runs behind Worcestershire’s first-innings 456 for 6 declared.After their bowlers had suffered for a day and a half, Glamorgan’s batsmen were soon in trouble, losing their first three wickets for eight runs in just 21 balls. Jacques Rudolph and Chris Cooke did manage to put on thirty for the fourth wicket, before the Glamorgan captain ran himself out going for an ambitious third run.Worcestershire resumed in the morning on 343 for 2, with D’Oliveira and Joe Clarke taking their partnership to 253, before Clarke was caught by Mark Wallace for 133. Another 12 runs would have created a new record for the third wicket against Glamorgan by the visitors, set by Damien D’Olivera – Brett’s father – and Graeme Hick at Abergavenny in 1990, while Clarke was three runs short of a career best he previously achieved against Gloucestershire two weeks ago.With Worcestershire intent on scoring quick runs before the declaration, they lost three wickets for four runs with Tom ohler-Cadmore caught at long-off, Ross Whiteley edging to Wallace and Ben Cox slicing to slip.D’Oliveira however remained steadfast, and brought up his double century with a firm cover drive to the boundary, emulating both his grandfather Basil and his father, the first time in the history of the game that this to be achieved.Glamorgan opened their innings with the debutant Nick Selman after a productive week with the 2nd XI where they scored four centuries. The experiment failed to provide dividends however as Selman, having struck his first ball for four, was lbw in Joe Leach’s next over and with his next ball Leach had Will Bragg taken at second slip. When Wallace was bowled by Ed Barnard in the next over, Glamorgan were in disarray, and although Cooke counterattacked by striking three boundaries Rudolph never looked at ease before being dismissed.One can only sympathise with Robert Croft, the newly appointed Glamorgan coach, who has worked hard with his players who appear to be lacking confidence while a surfeit of dropped catches in the four games- 12 to date – have not helped their cause.