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ScorecardMurray Goodwin received warm applause for what is likely to be his last innings at Hove•Getty Images

Somerset have finished second so often that Brian Rose resigned as director of cricket this week by mutual consent, in the belief that a fresh approach is needed at first-team level, but for a few fleeting moments they must have fondly imagined they could yet pull off an improbable runners-up finish in the Championship as a powerful testimony to the quality he has assembled during his eight years in charge.Four wickets in five overs at the end of a keenly contested day almost put those hopes to bed. Ah well. “This is for you, Brian, another runners-up gong,” might not have been the most subtle parting speech. But Somerset have made substantial progress under Rose’s leadership, developing young players, playing attractive cricket and furthering the sense of pride that is never far beneath the surface in Somerset cricket.To steal that second place from Sussex, Somerset would first have to chase down a target of 396 to win here. When Marcus Trescothick and Arul Suppiah assembled 147 in 43 overs without too many alarms, there was definitely a game on. The excellent Steve Magoffin had been repelled and Chris Nash, the potential partnership breaker, had come close but ultimately broken nothing other than the faith of the Sussex members. “Silly season,” muttered one as the ball disappeared to the boundary.If Somerset could have survived unscathed until the close, the final day would have been evenly balanced. They were half-an-hour away from doing just that. Warwickshire had been confirmed as champions and perhaps a collective gloom would have descended as a result over the south coast. But then Sussex’s players would share more than £150,000 for finishing second so perhaps not.Marcus Trescothick and Arul Suppiah fell on the same score, Trescothick dragging on as he envisaged clumping Monty Panesar over long-on and Suppiah caught by Matt Prior, a rebound off his chest at first slip off Magoffin, seven balls later.Magoffin, a rangy Queenslander of immense reliability, began with five successive maidens up the slope before having a rare outing downhill in an attempt to change his luck. It came off, first Suppiah then Chris Jones, bowled for a single, and the nightwatchman, Steve Kirby, softened up with a blow on the helmet and then caught at short leg. By the close he had 3 for 15 in 14 overs. He concedes runs in Division One at 2.30 per over; few can match such economy.Somerset fought with commendable spirit before lunch to keep their target of 396 down to such proportions. Assumptions had been that Sussex would grind towards a tea declaration but the Great Alfonso came to the fore, Thomas taking 4 for 7 in 28 balls (two with the old ball, two with the new) and Sussex’s last eight wickets were spirited away for 78 in 29 overs.There was no farewell hundred for Murray Goodwin, although he did fashion his best Championship score of a meagre season, 78 from 187 balls, before Thomas had him caught at the wicket. His Sussex career finishes with 14,573 first-class runs at 49.23 with 48 centuries.Sussex have retired Goodwin’s No. 3 shirt as a mark of respect to “a great cricketer and a fantastic team man”. But whether they have retired Goodwin is another thing. Another county might yet come looking. He certainly wants them to. He is even clinging to the “slim chance” that Sussex might change their mind. He said only found out on Sunday that his contract would not be renewed after indications six weeks earlier that he would be retained. As for the collapse in form that has caused his release, he blamed the abysmal English weather.”Not many batsmen have made runs this year,” he said. “I started with a broken wrist and then there were light issues and wet wickets. When you are on and off the field all the time, it plays with your preparation, your mindset and your rhythm. I have struggled with the weather, maybe more than most. But I still think I have more to offer the county game.”If he had to leave Sussex, and he has no wish to, this was not far short of how he might have imagined it: another glorious late summer’s day, a standing ovation from a decent, appreciative crowd and his young sons, Jaydon and Ashton, dashing to greet him as he crossed the boundary rope. Sussex even flew his parents over from Australia for the occasion.”I had been doing some fielding and I came off the field and saw them there,” he said. “It was a nice touch although I was hoping it would happen next year when they could also come over for the Ashes,” he said. Jaydon, 10, is already playing Sussex age group cricket and his father remarked with a grimace: “Jaydon has been giving me stick that he has more hundreds this season than I have.”Goodwin was treated to a gracious lunchtime speech in his honour and, even more impressively, it didn’t go on as long as the rival speeches blaring out of a marquee adjacent to the media centre. Corporate support is necessary for the survival of the county game, and it was all for an excellent good cause apparently, but by the time the auctioneer began to boom “Going… going… gone,” there could barely have been a soul within earshot who did not mutter, “Oh I do wish you were.”Not many at Hove have ever said that about Murray Goodwin.

The IPL governing council has set August 31 as the deadline for the owners of Deccan Chargers franchise to clear player payments and sort out the financial problems with the banks to avoid any stringent action. In an emergency meeting called on Tuesday in New Delhi, the governing council confronted the owners of Deccan Chronicle Holdings Limited, who hold the rights for the Hyderabad-based franchise, to explain in detail as to why the company had mortgaged the team ownership rights with two leading Indian banks.According to the BCCI officials, the board owns the ownership rights and that no franchise could mortgage the rights on its own.”The governing council asked the owners of Chargers to clear the players’ payments as by this time usually almost 60-70% of the contractual amount usually gets paid. But the franchise had defaulted on that. Secondly, they need to sort out the financial mess with the various banks to make sure the team remains unbothered. We need to protect both the IPL and the players,” a governing council official said.According to the official, the BCCI was concerned after the banks had directly sought the board’s involvement, asking to pay all the money set for the franchise, directly to them as Deccan Chronicle Holdings Limited owned them big money. “What is more concerning is the Deccan Chargers owners have hypothecated the intangibles. They have told the banks that the team has a certain market value and based on that they had procured the loans,” the official said.T Venkatram Reddy, the owner of franchise, was present at the meeting, but was adamant that the issue was unnecessarily blown out of proportion. “He outrightly blocked all the allegations by the banks and was confident all issues would get sorted by August 31,” the official said. However, it is understood that the BCCI had already checked with the Registrar of Companies and found out that Deccan Chronicle Holdings Limited had accumulated borrowing charges amounting to INR 3200 crore.According to the official, the banks were interested in knowing if they were in any position to sell the franchise on their own since the owners had defaulted to clear the dues. “We don’t know what exactly the amount is but the very fact that the banks have approached us means it is a serious issue,” the board official said.At the two-hour meeting, the Deccan Chargers were told that their immediate step should be to clear player dues over the next fortnight. The 15-day deadline has also given the Deccan Chargers owners the option of giving the presenting the details of the prospective buyers of their franchise to the Governing Council. Officials say that the prospect of the termination of the franchise had arisen “almost 15-20 days ago” however, the BCCI was “keen to be seen to aid the franchises to a limit.”

South Africa have picked legspinner Imran Tahir in their A squad for the two unofficial Tests against Sri Lanka A in July. The games will give Tahir practice ahead of the senior team’s tour of England this summer. Faf du Plessis was named captain of South Africa A.Apart from Tahir and du Plessis, the other A team players with international experience are wicketkeeper Thami Tsolekile, Farhaan Behardien, Justin Ontong, Wayne Parnell, Ryan McLaren and Rory Kleinveldt.Both games will be played in Durban, the first between June 30 and July 3 and the second from July 6 to 9.South Africa A: Faf du Plessis, Temba Bavuma, Farhaan Behardien, Dean Elgar, Simon Harmer, Reeza Hendricks, Imran Tahir, Rory Kleinveldt, Pumelela Matshikwe, Ryan McLaren, Justin Ontong, Wayne Parnell, Rilee Rossouw, Thami Tsolekile, Stiaan van Zyl.

A few weeks outside of his comfort zone hasn’t caused Tamim Iqbal to shed his energetic demeanour. Talking to the media for the first time since returning to Dhaka after the IPL, where he did not get a game in 16 matches for his franchise, Pune Warriors, his answers were an exercise in controlled emotions and wit. He took the route that would help soothe his and the fans’ nerves. In fact, he said he was not available for the team’s final two matches due to “personal reasons”.”It will be selfish to say that they [Warriors] didn’t let me play,” Tamim said on Saturday. “I have always been a team man, wherever I’ve played.”Being one of only two representatives from Bangladesh in a multi-national tournament like the IPL meant that there was added pressure, especially after going into the tournament on the back of four consecutive half-centuries in Bangladesh’s highly successful Asia Cup campaign. That good form also added to Tamim’s frustration at not playing. “It was very frustrating, because I went there with very good form. I thought I would play from the start, but the team is the most important factor. I thought every day was an opportunity for me, despite not playing.”The thing that I liked the most was that despite being from Bangladesh, I did speak during team meetings. These things are very important because our team [Bangladesh] needs a lot of leadership qualities, so if we can speak to big players [from other countries] and in big team meetings, our leadership qualities will rise. I’m sure Shakib has done it [at his IPL franchise, Kolkata Knight Riders], and I did it.”Tamim also said that he enjoyed observing those around him, especially the big two in his team – captain and mentor Sourav Ganguly, and Australia captain Michael Clarke. “They are both very different human beings; they have different ways of thinking. It was very interesting to see how they talk in team meetings, especially Ganguly, who is one of India’s best captains. I saw something in him … the way he talks, he means something.”Clarke told me that I should be playing, that meant a lot to me. If he rates me highly, why should I be disappointed? More importantly, I got the idea that he follows Bangladesh cricket. He and I spoke a few times and he told me that our unit has a lot of potential. He also said that we have a chance to impress at the next World Cup.Despite being in such exalted company, Tamim remained a competitor and yearned to play. He was told to be prepared to play on several occasions, he said, but his chance just did not come. “There were many instances when I was asked to get ready but in the end I didn’t play. I was being told, when six matches were left to play, that you’ll play this game, that game … When I shared my problem with them, they told me to go home and sort it out first …””But I’m just 23, I have 10-12 years of cricket in me, so if I keep performing there will be a lot of opportunities.”Now Tamim will take a few days off before joining Victoria Sporting Club in the Dhaka Premier Division’s Super League from May 31. Later, in mid-June, he will travel with Bangladesh to Zimbabwe.

The managing committee of the Goa Cricket Association has removed Dayanand Narvekar from the post of president amid an investigation into the association’s finances. The committee voted 11 to 2 to remove Narvekar and the new administration took possession of the GCA premises on Sunday with the help of the police.”He [Narvekar] was acting to the detriment of the association,” acting president Vinod Phadke told ESPNcricinfo. He said he could not elaborate on all the reasons for why the committee voted to depose Narvekar, but said “because of him a lot of things are not happening, especially regarding international stadiums in Goa”. The police were called in as protection because Narvekar initially refused to step down and chose to occupy the association premises, according to Phadke. “Even after expelling, still he was saying he was the president. But in the end he handed over the association and he went.”The managing committee met earlier on Monday and appointed a new group of office bearers to manage the association’s affairs until new elections can be held. Elections must be held before the end of July. According to Phadke, the BCCI has also been informed of the change in the administration.Narvekar had been president of the GCA since 1998 and his ouster comes two weeks after the Goa state government has ordered an investigation into the finances of the GCA after two local clubs affiliated to the GCA lodged a complaint alleging incidents of fraud. The government also asked the GCA not to take any financial decisions until the investigation is over.Chetan Desai, who is leading the government’s investigation, told ESPNcricinfo last week that the GCA was not co-operating and he might be forced to involve the police to obtain the information he needs.Edited by Siddarth Ravindran