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West Indies all-rounder Dwayne Bravo has agreed a deal to play for Essex on Friends Provident t20 finals day.

Essex, who take on hosts Hampshire in the first semi-final at the Rose Bowl on August 14, had a vacancy for an overseas player after New Zealander Scott Styris returned home.

Bravo's short-term signing is subject to visa approval, although that is not expected to present a problem......

Azeem Rafiq has become the latest English cricketer to discover the pitfalls of Twitter.

Rafiq's angry, and unprintable, personal attack on England Under 19s coach John Abrahams - after being dropped for disciplinary reasons - has left the teenager on apparent probation from the role as captain.

Andrew Strauss was asked for his reaction, at the press conference ostensibly to preview the fi.....

Tim Bresnan has been called into the England squad to face Pakistan in the first Test after Ajmal Shahzad picked up an ankle injury.

Shahzad aggravated an old injury during training on Tuesday and as a result will miss at least the series-opener against Pakistan at Trent Bridge.

England selector Geoff Miller explained that Bresnan had been given a late call to replace Yorkshire team-mate Sh.....

Match-winning contributions from Mark Pettini and Matt Walker inspired Essex to reach Friends Provident t20 Finals Day with an eight-wicket win over Lancashire at Chelmsford late on Tuesday night.

With the semi-final draw made immediately after the match, Essex will now play hosts Hampshire at the Rose Bowl on August 14th while Nottinghamshire take on Somerset.

Batting first, Lancashire rec.....

Somerset reached the Friends Provident t20 Finals Day in comfortable fashion on Tuesday with a seven-wicket victory against Northamptonshire in Taunton.

Faced with an easy target of 113, the Sabres reached it with three overs to spare as Craig Kieswetter offered a timely return to form.

The England one-day wicketkeeper hit 33 off 28 balls, including a six and four fours. Peter Trego (30) an.....

Nottinghamshire knocked champions Sussex out of the Friends Provident t20 in a tight quarter-final under floodlights at Trent Bridge on Monday night.

When the Outlaws' batsmen managed a total of just 141 for nine, it appeared Mike Yardy's side would be joining Hampshire in the last four at the Rose Bowl on August 14th.

Although Yardy himself had earlier taken advantage of the bowling cond.....

James Vince hit an unbeaten 66 on Monday as Hampshire reached their first Friends Provident t20 finals day with a five-wicket win over Warwickshire at Edgbaston.

The youngster's half-century was his second of the season and helped Hampshire chase down the hosts' 153 for five before victory was sealed with just one ball to spare.

Hampshire, who had never before progressed beyond the quarte.....

England have retained Ajmal Shahzad in their 12-man squad to face Pakistan in the first match of the four-Test series.

The Yorkshire seamer has overcome competition from Tykes team-mate Tim Bresnan and Nottinghamshire's Ryan Sidebottom and will be hoping to make the starting XI for the first Test at Trent Bridge starting on Thursday.

Middlesex seam bowler Steven Finn has also been included.....

Pakistan have ended a run of 13 successive Test defeats to Australia after clawing their way to a nervy three-wicket victory at Headingley.

Pakistan began day four needing just 40 more runs to win with seven wickets in hand, however Ricky Ponting's side pushed them all the way with a spirited fightback.

Doug Bollinger and Ben Hilfenhaus both claimed early breakthroughs, but Kamran Akmal (1.....