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Peter Bowler completed the 41st century of his career against Leicestershire in the CricInfo Championship game at Grace Road – 15 years after making his first for them on the same ground.The 37-year-old Somerset batsman still holds the distinction of being the first Leicestershire player to score a century on his first-class debut when he made 100 not out against Hampshire in 1986.His latest century kept Somerset well in contention in what has become a high-scoring match on a good pitch. They closed the second day at 324 for six only 63 runs behind.But Leicestershire will not be happy with their performance in the field. Their bowling and catching left a lot to be desired, and the Somerset batsmen cashed in.Bowler led the way with his unbeaten 103 but there was a fine innings as well from Michael Burns. He made 60 off 116 balls with eight fours and a six before becoming one of the five batsmen caught by his namesake, wicket-keeper Neil Burns.Jamie Cox and Piran Holloway, both dropped twice on their way to scores of 21 and 35 respectively, were his first two victims off the bowling of Devon Malcolm, and he also helped remove Rob Turner and Peter Trego.Turner was not happy about his dismissal, clearly feeling he made no contact with a delivery from left-arm spinner Daniel Marsh.But there was no doubt about Trego’s departure. He received a brute of a ball from Malcolm which he could only fend off and Burns clung on to a one-handed catch.But Bowler was not to be denied. He survived a difficult chance on 84 but reached his century off 185 balls with 15 fours and a six.

Journalist Pete O’Rourke has claimed that Celtic’s chances of keeping loanee Cameron Carter-Vickers will be given a ‘huge boost’ if they win the Premiership, as per GiveMeSport.

The Lowdown: Premier League interest in Carter-Vickers

The Hoops brought in the USA defender from Tottenham last August and have an option to buy the centre-back in the summer for an initial £6m fee.

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They were hoping to secure a permanent transfer in January, but as we know, that failed to materialise.

Carter-Vickers, who has been labelled ‘quick’ by Jonathan Woodgate, has been a regular under Ange Postecoglou and has now made more appearances for Celtic than any of his previous clubs.

The Latest: O’Rourke’s comments on Carter-Vickers

Talking to GiveMeSport, O’Rourke had this to say on the Hoops’ chances of making a move permanent, believing that a Premiership triumph and subsequent Champions League group stage qualification would give the club a ‘huge boost’ over a full-time deal for the 24-year-old:

“A lot will depend on Champions League football. If Celtic win the league and offer Champions League football, it will be a huge boost for their chances of signing Carter-Vickers.”

The Verdict: Important few months

Postecoglou’s side find themselves in a strong position heading into the final stages of the campaign, with a domestic treble still on the cards. They will take on rivals Rangers three more times this season, twice in the Premiership and once at Hampden Park in a Scottish Cup semi-final.

The two league fixtures could well decide who will win the Premiership, and with Celtic three points clear at this moment in time, four points from a possible six would be huge.

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That could then have a big say on the future of loanees Carter-Vickers and Jota, and you’d expect that the pair will both play a vital role in the Hoops’ fortunes over the next few months.

In other news: Update emerges for Ange on Celtic ace stretchered off on international duty

	Sinclair: “If someone is spraying it everywhere you never really get a feel for where he’s trying to put the ball” © Getty Images

Matthew Sinclair had his first bat against England’s Steve Harmison in a tour match in Dunedin last week, and said he’s not sure what to make of him going into the first Test. Harmison, who took 5 for 100 against New Zealand Select XI, was, according to Sinclair, “a little bit erratic”.”If someone is spraying it everywhere you never really get a feel for where he’s trying to put the ball – I couldn’t get a feel for what he was trying to do,” he told the . “I felt it was quite hard to get some consistency from him from a batting point of view. I hadn’t faced Harmison before so I’ll be speaking a lot with Flem [Stephen Fleming] over the next two days in terms of what he tries to do.”Sinclair hasn’t played against England at the international level but was confident based on what he saw of their attack. He faced all of the main bowlers except the injured Ryan Sidebottom. “This week has been really good as it’s given me a really good idea of how they’re trying to bowl, and also from a batting point of view what I need to get out of it – it was a good little trial period really,” he said. “It was disappointing not to go on with it after scoring 47, but Monty [Panesar] beat me on the day so fair play to him. It would have been good to post another hour out there but it’s given me a really good idea about what the bowlers are doing.”Sinclair, 32, has yet to cement his place in the side despite scoring 214 on Test debut in 1999 and 204 the following summer. In nine years at the international level he has just 29 Test appearances.Sinclair failed to register when Bangladesh toured recently, scoring 76 runs in two innings, and knows how big the three-Test series against England is. “The yo-yo ride continues,” he said. “I’ve put a lot of hard work in over the winter and I was lucky enough to play against Bangladesh and I’ve been presented with an opportunity to hopefully try and do well against the English.”If you look at the batting side of things there wasn’t a heck of a lot of good things coming out of that Bangladesh series other than Matt Bell with his 100 and Flem with his 80, there were a lot of in-betweens really. I’ve moved on from there now and I’m looking forward to spending a lot of time in the middle.”

The final of the ICC Intercontinental Cup between Ireland and Canada will take place at Chelmsford between May 21 and 24. It will be the first time and Intercontinental Cup tie has taken place in England. The previous finals have been in the UAE and Dubai.Ireland, the holders, qualified by topping Group A, beating UAE and Namibia and drawing with Scotland. Canada qualified through victories over Bermuda and Kenya, although they lost to Netherlands.The new format of the tournament means sides play a minimum of three four-day matches in this tournament, increasing to seven four-day matches in 2007 and 2008 when it is hoped the event will be a full round-robin format. That compares to a minimum of just two three-day matches per year under the previous structure which, until the semi-finals, was regionally based rather than global.

ScorecardHundreds from Stephen Fleming and Brendon McCullum ensured the New Zealanders’ tour match at Benoni will go into the final day evenly poised. At the close, Rest of South Africa were 132 for 4, a lead of 155.Fleming, 96 not out overnight, completed his hundred in the first over, and made brisk progress along with Peter Fulton, who soon completed his fifty. Although Fulton fell for 73, it was Fleming’s dismissal for 118 which triggered a collapse in which the tourists lost five wickets for 44 runs, Monde Zondeki taking three of those in as many overs.With Shane Bond sidelined with a knee injury, New Zealanders were in deep trouble before McCullum finally found support in Chris Martin, one of the game’s real rabbits, the pair adding 95 for the ninth wicket to steer them to within 23 runs of Rest of South Africa’s total.When Rest of South Africa batted again, James Franklin struck an early blow, removing Alviro Petersen for 5, but Justin Ontong patiently guided them to a strong position before two late wickets gave the visitors renewed hope. Davey Jacobs’ 22 ended when he hit a return catch to Daniel Vettori, and two balls later Jean-Paul Duminy edged Martin to McCullum.

Alan Richardson celebrates one of his five wickets against Gloucestershire © Getty Images

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Champions Warwickshire lost for the first time in 20 Championship matches as Sussex steamrollered them at Hove. Jason Lewry and Mushtaq Ahmed made short work of the Warwickshire first innings, taking the last five wickets for 33 runs, then Chris Adams asked them to bat again 233 runs behind. They fared no better second time around as wickets fell steadily from the outset. Ian Bell resisted for 90 minutes but when he was caught behind off Mushtaq the end came quickly. James Kirtley got in on the wicket-taking act, claiming Dougie Brown and Toby Frost, before Mushtaq wrapped up the innings. Ashley Giles made it to the crease in both innings – and his hip injury is reported not to be serious – but Warwickshire are now unlikely to see their left-arm spinner again in the Championship this season, as England duties beckon.
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Simon Katich played a masterful innings as Hampshire sped into a commanding position at Canterbury. Katich chose the perfect time to hit his first century of the season, after Hampshire had managed to secure a first innings lead of 23. After another failure for Jimmy Adams, falling to Martin Saggers in the third over, Katich took control from the outset. He added 95 with John Crawley, who had been promoted to open the batting, before Crawley was run out for 25. However, Katich marched on and by the close had struck six fours and six sixes to push Hampshire’s lead past 200. A solid allround bowling performance had secured their slender first-innings lead. Shane Warne removed David Fulton early but at 255 for 5 Kent were the team eyeing the advantage. Matthew Stevens struck a boundary-filled 68 and Matthew Dennington made a valuable half-century. But Warne returned and with the help of Richard Logan and Chris Tremlett wrapped up the innings.
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Alan Richardson’s transformation from county trundler to strike bowler continued as Middlesex established a stranglehold on their clash with Gloucestershire. Since his winter move, from Warwickshire, Richardson’s form has been a revelation and he now has 22 wickets at 19 apiece. He shouldered the extra responsibility in an attack lacking Nantie Hayward and Chad Keegan. After an opening stand of 59 Richardson struck twice in two balls, but his biggest scalp was Craig Spearman, caught by Andrew Strauss for 69. Melvyn Betts chipped in with four – albeit expensive – wickets but Middlesex always had plenty of runs to play with. Even another failure for Strauss – out for 10 – could not take the gloss of a dominant display from Middlesex who will now aim to set a target over 400.

Martin Bicknell appeals for the wicket of David Hemp © Getty Images

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A defiant half-century from David Harrison guided Glamorgan beyond the follow-on but Surrey remain firmly in control at The Oval. Harrison, Dean Cosker and Andrew Davies added 112 for the last two wickets to rescue Glamorgan from the depths of 233 for 8. Martin Bicknell caused the major problems with 6 for 74 including the top-three batsmen all trapped lbw. The Glamorgan top-order is brittle without Matthew Maynard and Matthew Elliott and Surrey exploited the weaknesses. Jimmy Ormond was economical and although Rikki Clarke and Mohammad Akram were expensive they picked up vital wickets. A lead of 99 was less than Surrey first anticipated but it was still a useful advantage. Scott Newman, following his first-innings 117, launched Surrey’s second dig in a positive fashion.

Northerns’ win over Boland at Paarl took them well clear at the top of the Shield table:Shield – 4th day:Northerns 451 for 7 dec and 173 for 6 dec beat Boland 259and 218 (Strydom 52, Dros 5-17) by 147 runs
ScorecardBoland’s target of 366 proved to be far too high, as they were bowled out for 218 at Paarl. The last five wickets tumbled for 27, to spoil any cghance Boland might have had to force a draw. Gerald Dros, Northerns’ captain, who had bowled only 22 previous overs this season, brought himself on in the 69th over, and produced career-best figures of 5 for 17 in 4.1 overs as he ripped through the Boland tail. Gerard Strydom again top-scored for Boland, with 52.Gauteng 34 for 1 v Eastern Province
ScorecardFor the third day running no play was possible at the Wanderers. After just half-an-hour’s play on the first day neither team scored any points and had to be content with a soggy draw.

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Paceman Jason Gillespie (3/8) has smashed through a feeble West Indian top order late on the third day of the Fourth Test here at the Melbourne Cricket Ground today to have Australia thundering toward another mammoth victory. With three scalps in the space of sixteen deliveries, the South Australian speedster has, to be precise, left his team a mere seven wickets away from wrapping up this match tomorrow.It was the fourteenth day of this series; it was the thirteenth on which Australia dominated. By its conclusion (with West Indies at 3/10 and still an irrelevant 452 runs away from what would shape as the most impossible of wins), the prospect of yet another thumping Test triumph was the only thing apparently left on the cards.The Australian upper order was a model of efficiency today, simply accumulating runs before an inevitable closure of the side’s second innings at a mark of 5/262 thirty-eight minutes before the scheduled drawing of stumps. It was the kind of display during which Justin Langer (80) normally revels, and he made sure that he did not let slip a golden opportunity to improve upon a generally unremarkable personal series. Mark Waugh (78*) weighed in heavily too and the result, at the end of it all, was a 461 run lead. It allowed the tourists no way out of a thick and gloomy mire.And lest it be thought that the visitors might finally have shown the sort of application at the top of an innings that is so often the prerequisite of long exhibitions at the crease, that idea can already be scrapped. Gillespie’s efforts in removing Daren Ganga (0), Wavell Hinds (4) and Brian Lara (0) in the space of the eleven overs that the Australians left themselves to bowl prior to stumps have already reduced the West Indians to second innings calamity. Ganga failed to defend a ball on an off stump line and found himself lbw; Hinds edged to fourth slip; Lara was comprehensively bowled by a wonderful delivery. Lara’s dismissal, in itself, was probably a metaphor for the West Indians’ woes; completely out-thought, he shouldered arms to a delivery that he seemed to believe was slanted away from him. Instead, it hit the seam, moved into him and crashed, delightfully from a jovial home crowd of 19896’s point of view, into the off bail.Earlier, Langer had been in his element grafting, pummelling, shovelling runs. He arrived at the crease following the early departure of opener Michael Slater (4) to one of the very best deliveries of the day, a nicely controlled Mervyn Dillon (1/68) ball that pitched on an ideal length, moved marginally off the seam and snared a thick outside edge on its way to Lara at first slip. He did not leave until the point of tea.Along the way, he shared in two controlled partnerships – one of forty-one runs with Matthew Hayden (30) for the second wicket and another of 116 with Waugh for the third – which had the MCG pitch looking a different beast from the one which helped bring the West Indian batsmen to their knees late in the piece.The Western Australian left hander’s method, predominantly, was to play straight. Not one of the nine boundaries that he struck in an innings that spanned close to three and a half hours, in fact, was hit square of the wicket. It was only toward the end of his stay that any genuine chinks in his armour emerged. He survived a close decision as he drove one delivery – on what television replays suggested might have been a half volley – to cover with his score at 71 and then finally made the long trek back to the pavilion when a Jimmy Adams (1/18) ball found the outside edge of his defensive bat on the way to Ganga at slip.The West Indians searched hard for answers to their ills and looked earnestly for a way through the Australian batting order. And, in truth, they bowled an honest line and length and applied themselves well. Wicketkeeper Ridley Jacobs also covered himself in further glory by joining David Murray and Courtney Browne as the only West Indian fieldsmen to claim a total of nine dismissals in a Test match. But there was no reply to their questions and they detected no obvious way to penetrate. By the time that Ricky Ponting (26*) pounded twenty-one runs from the bowling of Colin Stuart (1/66) in what proved to be the final over of the innings, they were actually tending toward many bad habits again.By far the most unpredictable aspect of the day was the complexion of Melbourne’s weather. Through the afternoon, the action was played out under sunny skies, the brightness of which stood in complete contrast to the generally dull hue that featured across the horizon during the morning session. Driving rain actually wiped out as many as fifty-six minutes through the early stages of the day. At that stage, conditions-wise, it was difficult to fathom what would come next. It was never possible to apply the same observation to events on the field of play itself.

Everton are back in action today with an early-afternoon FA Cup clash against fellow Premier League side Crystal Palace at Goodison Park.

Their previous FA Cup clash saw the Toffees beat Boreham Wood 2-0 thanks to a brace from striker Salomon Rondon.

Now with the Merseyside club into the sixth round of the competition, they will presumably be in for a much tougher test this time around as Palace take the trip to Goodison.

The Toffees will be heading into this match with some confidence as they managed to secure a much-needed win in the Premier League on Thursday after beating Newcastle United 1-0.

On the chalkboard

In terms of which players Lampard could pick to be in his starting XI to take on the Eagles today, one figure that didn’t start in midweek but did end up playing a big part in the game that we feel should be in from the beginning on this occasion is striker Dominic Calvert-Lewin.

After replacing Demarai Gray in the 76th minute, the striker managed to assist the crucial goal from Alex Iwobi that secured the three points for Everton in the win over the Tyneside club.

Having missed a significant chunk of the season with injury issues, the 25-year-old has only 10 appearances this season, all of them coming in the Premier League.

Having scored three goals and now provided one assist in those league appearances, the £72k-per-week Englishman could be a real danger and a terrifying prospect for Palace and their defensive players if he’s in the right mood.

Now that he got some minutes under his belt in midweek, today’s game could give the centre-forward, who has been dubbed a “nightmare” on the pitch by his teammate Richarlison, a great opportunity to get back into the swing of things from the start before working on his fitness again over the upcoming international break.

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Also, with fellow Toffees attacker Richarlison coming off against Newcastle with a suspected injury, this could pave the way for Calvert-Lewin to come back in the team if the Brazilian isn’t at 100% in terms of his fitness.

Either way, Lampard and the rest of his staff at the club will be hoping that the team can progress through to the next round of the FA Cup and add a bit more positivity and confidence throughout the squad and fanbase which could then be vital for their hopes of avoiding relegation to the Championship.

In other news: Lampard can finally axe Everton liability with £11.8m gem with “natural explosiveness”