Worcestershire prosper thanks to excellence of Alan Richardson and Damien Wright

Worcestershire chairman Martyn Price has excused the county’s chief executive David Leatherdale and director of cricket Steve Rhodes of any wrongdoing over the Adrian Shankar affair.

West Mercia Police are investigating whether batsman Shankar may have provided false information to obtain a two year contract with Worcestershire, who abruptly terminated the deal last week.

Price has backed his senior management team and asked the England and Wales Cricket Board to review its registration procedures.

“David and Steve have my full backing, they have done nothing wrong and have worked hard to sort this mess out.” Price said. “If there is any blame attached the ECB have to take a bit of it."

At least Worcestershire’s on-field performances diverted some of the attention from ‘Shankargate’ by making the champions struggle on a seamer-friendly pitch.

Worcestershire have lost all six matches since they returned to the top flight but they were spirited and competitive thanks to the excellence of Alan Richardson and Damien Wright.

The new ball pair shared six wickets between them and beat the bat on numerous occasions.

Riki Wessels, controversially registered after he obtained an obscure entrepreneur visa, the terms of which require him to be contracted through a company, marked his Nottinghamshire championship debut with an aggressive 67.

The champions scrambled their first batting point in three matches thanks to lower order resistance from Chris Read, Paul Franks and Andre Adams.

The most fluent innings of the day was played by Vikram Solanki who played beautifully for his 53-ball 52 before he went LBW to Adams.

Solanki’s stand of 65 with Matt Pardoe for Worcestershire’s second wicket was the only half century partnership of the day.

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Hampshire hold on for Durham draw thanks to stout century from Jimmy Adams

A welter of runs from Jimmy Adams in 2011 is unlikely to elevate him overnight to the England Test arena but will prevent his opponents from steam-rollering Hampshire’s matches for easy points as his stonewalling of Durham showed on Monday.

Had Adams not made his first century of the summer and occupied the crease for the best part of five hours, Hampshire would have slid to defeat but his resistance and the partnerships he nurtured made the draw possible.

It also helped that Durham’s captain Phil Mustard chose to deploy leg-spinner Scott Borthwick so late in the day when the rough had become the only source of help for the bowlers on a flat and increasingly slow track.

Adams and Liam Dawson had formed a solid opening partnership of 170, turning Hampshire fears of a humiliating loss into a vague hope of reaching the 490 required for victory.

Having bowled just one oever before lunch, Borthwick launched Durham’s first strike of the day immediately after the interval when his googly befuddled Dawson and the catch was smartly taken at short leg.

Dawson was filling in as opener for Michael Carberry, whose blood clot on the lung has created concern and uncertainty over his future. Dawson’s positive knock has guaranteed him a second go in the next game against Nottinghamshire.

Adams motored towards his century, which came up in 236 balls with 19 fours, but he too fell to Borthwick, who tempted him into a sweep to fine leg, where he was caught by Liam Plunkett.

It should have been a time for Mustard to up the ante but the loss of Steve Harmison from Durham’s attack, after he was hit on the hand on Saturday, meant there was no leverage.

Johann Mybergh took responsibility for the salvage operation with fellow Transvaal countryman Neil McKenzie. They eased Hampshire out of the danger zone and, at 345 for five with six scheduled overs remaining, the hands were proffered and the draw concluded, prompting Hampshire captain Dominic Cork to admit they had been lucky after being dominated by Durham for the best part of three days.

“Had Harmison been fit, they would have declared earlier on Sunday and would have backed themselves to bowl us out but now we have momentum going into the next game,” he said.

The contribution from all-rounder Ben Stokes, who Cork described as one of the best youngsters in the game, had also thwarted Hampshire’s progress after he took 6-68 and posted a century.

“He is a fantastic cricketer. With the bat he has both aggression and a sound defensive technique and he can also swing the ball. He’s a great fielder and a good catcher. What more can you ask for.”

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