Surrey batsman Hashim Amla hits 88 to help his side beat Derbyshire and boost their hopes of survival

Hashim Amla hit a fighting 88 to help Surrey complete a crucial four-wicket win against fellow strugglers Derbyshire which boosts their chances of avoiding relegation from Division One of the LV County Championship.

Set an awkward victory target of 217 in 73 overs, Surrey slipped to four for two against a tenacious Derbyshire bowling attack on a tricky pitch that produced a relatively low-scoring contest.

But South Africa batsman Amla, rated at No 1 in the world rankings for both Test and one-day international cricket, batted for 202 minutes and faced 159 balls, hitting eight fours in just his fourth championship innings as Surrey’s latest overseas player.

The win, Surrey’s first of the championship season, earned them 21 points and puts them on 97, two ahead of Derbyshire at the bottom of the first division. Surrey remain 15 points adrift of seventh-placed Somerset, but with a game in hand.

At the top of the table it is even tighter after Durham completed a seven-wicket victory over Yorkshire at Scarborough on Saturday.

The home side followed on 299 runs behind but reached 419 second time round, leaving Yorkshire to make 121 in 37 overs after tea.

Scott Borthwick reached 65 in 85 balls to see them most of the way home after an early wobble. The victory puts Durham just 5½ points behind Yorkshire at the top.

Sussex kept alive their title hopes but killed off any lingering ambitions Warwickshire had of retaining the title by refusing to declare and batting through a tedious final day at Edgbaston and thus making it a three-way race.

“We have got to play Durham twice and Yorkshire so it’s an exciting end of the season,” Sussex manager Mark Robinson said.

“We are still outside favourites but we have given ourselves a chance.”

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Somerset crumble to 103 against Derbyshire as their season threatens to turn sour

As if this season had not been difficult enough to stomach for Somerset fans, in recent days the club announced the cancellation of their cider festival, citing poor ticket sales.

When the Taunton locals are off their apples, it must be serious. Monday’s batting performance once again gave them nothing to cheer, and only sorrows to drown.

After winning the toss and electing to bat in a crucial relegation battle, Somerset capitulated to 103 all out, their lowest total of the season.

There were neither demons in the pitch, nor the Derbyshire bowling line-up, which prospered quietly and simply with disciplined seam bowling.

Tony Palladino’s accuracy accounted for the hosts’ top order, before Tim Groenewald tore through the middle, with his third five-wicket haul of the season.

The Somerset innings was summed up by Craig Kieswetter, who attempted to smear consecutive deliveries from Groenewald. After a slice for four and a dropped return catch, Kieswetter finally holed out at mid-off. Three reckless strikes, and out.

That the hosts remain in the game at all owed everything to Piyush Chawla, their overseas import.

His cameo with the bat scored a quarter of Somerset’s runs, and the leg-spinner’s four for 87 took advantage of some unusually prodigious first-day spin, which also caught the attention of an England and Wales Cricket Board pitch inspector in attendance.

Chawla briefly threatened to undo the visitors’ solid opening platform, but an assured, unbeaten stand of 93 in the final session between Richard Johnson (55) and Tom Poynton (53) steered Derbyshire into the commanding position they deserved.

Eleven days cricket remain in this Division One county campaign. But the opening session yesterday could prove decisive for the fate of these two teams.

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Ashes 2013: England players say sorry for their post-match Oval party that went too far

The incident was witnessed by Australian journalists who were still working at the Oval while England players went into the middle to celebrate their 3-0 series victory.

The apology was issued in a statement on the England and Wales Cricket Board website and although it neither confirmed nor denied that players urinated on the pitch it apologised for any offence caused.

“The England cricket team would like to state that during our celebrations after winning the Ashes at no time was there any intention to disrespect Surrey CCC, the Oval or anyone else involved in the game we love,” the statement said.

“As a team we pride ourselves on respecting all things cricket including the opposition and the grounds we play at. We got carried away amongst the euphoria of winning such a prestigious series and accept that some of our behaviour was inappropriate.

“If that has caused any offence to anyone we apologise for that and want to reassure people that it was a simple error of judgment more than anything else.”

England’s apology was accepted by Surrey chief executive Richard Gould who had described the players’ behaviour as “irresponsible”. Gould also confirmed that no damage has been caused to the turf at the Oval.

England’s Twenty20 captain, Stuart Broad, declined to comment on the watery celebrations or the players’ apology when he attended a press conference in Southampton on Wednesday ahead of the first of two Twenty20 international matches against Australia on Thursday.

Broad was more forthcoming, however, on the lukewarm praise England had received for retaining the Ashes in some sections of the media.

“Praise from the media is not something the team is particularly concerned about,” he said. “At the end of the day the hard facts are that we won an Ashes series 3-0 and that was a tough fight and an emotional roller-coaster.

“Certain games could have been won and lost in half-an-hour spaces and it was fantastic cricket to watch. To have won that 3-0 and to have had an unbelievable chance of winning 4-0 and becoming the first England team to do that was a very special achievement and the guys in the changing room know that.

“Many of the fans know and believe that. The response from people we know and have seen has been fantastic. It’s part and parcel in an Ashes series that you get little things written about and talked about that get taken out of proportion but at the end of the day fans will certainly remember that we won that series 3-0 and played some fantastic and exciting cricket.”

Although England have two Twenty20 internationals and five one-dayers to come against Australia before the end of this season, Broad said thoughts have already turned to the prospect of completing a fourth successive Ashes series win this winter.

“The England changing room are just focused on England beating Australia. My whole childhood was taken up with England getting pumped by Australia so there’s just such a hunger in the dressing room to keep on ­beating Australia,” Broad said.

“Even since we won the Ashes on Sunday night there’s been talk between the guys of how much we want to work hard to win the next one and we can hit Australia hard in Brisbane.

“We know it will be a different game out there and we know how hard our home crowd have helped us here. So we’ve got to expect their crowd to help them there. Australia in their conditions will be hard to beat and we will have to play better than we’ve done here to beat them.”

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Ashes 2013: how the England players rated on their way to defeating Australia to win summer Test series

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Kevin Pietersen
Tests 5 Runs 326 Average 36.22 Catches 4
Has curbed his impatience admirably to adapt to the slow pitches in the team’s cause. England could have lost at Trent Bridge and Old Trafford without his contributions. 8/10

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Ian Bell
Tests 5 Runs 529 Average 75.57 Catches 2
Man of the series. Could he have batted out the last day at Old Trafford if rain had not wiped out the last two sessions? He turned every other game England’s way, batting near perfectly, without straining for technical perfection as he used to. Now he has a family he may be switching off for the first time, making him all the sharper when he switches on. 10/10

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Jonny Bairstow
Tests 4 Runs 203 Average 29.00 Catches 1
His 28 at the Riverside was his last and best innings because it was also the most positive. Back at No?6 this winter as a specialist batsman — or could he keep wicket and succeed Prior? 5/10

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Matt Prior
Runs 86 Average 14.33 Catches 16
Comprehensively out-played by Brad Haddin as batsman and keeper, after beating him in 2009 and drawing in 2010-11. Such a hard worker, he will surely be back this winter. 5/10

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Tim Bresnan
Tests 3 Runs 103 Average 25.75 Wickets 10 Average 29.60 Catches 0
Steady Eddie was back to his former pace and acted as a nightwatchman-plus with the bat. But is he sufficiently different from Anderson and Broad to be a third seamer in Australia? 7/10

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Stuart Broad
Tests 5 Runs 170 Average 28.33 Wickets 18 Average 31.16 Catches 1
Resurrected his batting in the first Test and his bowling in the fourth. And he did not nick it to slip at Trent Bridge - Darren Lehmann, please note - but via the keeper to slip. 8/10

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Graeme Swann
Tests 5 Runs 92 Average 23.00 Wickets 25 Average 28.64 Catches 4
The oldest player at 34, and might be past his peak at second slip, but not as a spinner. Dispatched 16 left-handers, including Rogers six times, and kept control throughout. 9/10

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James Anderson
Tests 5 Runs 32 Average 8.00 Wickets 21 Average 29.71 Catches 3
Bookended the series with superlative swing-and-seam bowling at Trent Bridge and the Oval. An all-time great bowler if he can do it in three Ashes series in a row. 9/10

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Steven Finn
Tests 1 Runs 2 Average 2.00 Wickets 2 Average 58.50 Catches 0
After two wickets in his opening spell, he proved the biggest disappointment of England’s bowlers, but he is only 24. Must sort out his run-up and bowl flat out — and go to Australia. 3/10

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Simon Kerrigan
Tests 1 Runs - Average - Wickets 0 Average - Catches 0
Oh dear. It may take a long time for him to recover from his chastening experience at the Oval. But if he does, and energises his run-up, he will be stronger and may succeed Panesar. 1/10

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Chris Woakes
Tests 1 Runs 15 Average - Wickets 1 Average 96.00 Catches 0
He could become a fourth seamer for a Test in England, but greater potential in his batting. One front and one back-foot drive were high class. 3/10

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Ashes 2013: Graeme Swann and Ian Bell deserve the plaudits for their efforts during England's series win

Best catch
Cook’s diving at full stretch and one-handed to dismiss Peter Siddle at Trent Bridge. Stunning, and hugely important.

Best ball
Anderson’s inswinging leg-cutter to remove Michael Clarke at Trent Bridge. Clarke also copped a beauty from Broad at Durham. Both looked unplayable, but, as former Australian batsman David Boon once observed, very few are in reality. Boon said he only received one such ball in his career. Clarke’s lingering on the back foot for the short ball does weaken his front-foot defence.

Biggest villain
David Warner, of course. Not Broad nor the Decision Review System, but the man who whacked Joe Root in a bar and then called for a ludicrous review after edging Swann behind at Old Trafford.

In fairness Warner fronted up to his misdemeanour and has taken the stick in good part. He remains a dangerous batsman, of whom England will be wary this winter.

Hardest done-by award
Not Ed Cowan, who was very harshly dropped after failing twice while ill at Trent Bridge, but the DRS system that has so often been maligned. It has had its problems, yes, but nobody said it was perfect before the series. In the balefully scrutinised and pressurised world of modern-day sport, it helps achieve more correct decisions. Surely that is good. HotSpot could be better, of course, but calls such as those for sides not to lose a review when an umpire’s call is revealed are erroneous. Sides must realise that, for instance, the ball must be smashing the stumps for a not out lbw decision to be overturned. Leave it as it is.

Biggest misconception
That Broad’s infamous edge at Trent Bridge went straight to slip. It went there via the wicketkeeper. Even Darren Lehmann in his spectacularly ill-judged radio interview for which he was fined last week was still contending as much.

Spirit of cricket award
Broad, obviously. He has walked ever since that incident. Much ado about little, if you ask me. Maybe one day we will get to a point where technology is so reliable that all batsmen will walk off anyway, but we are clearly nowhere near that situation yet.

Best masterclass
Sky Sports have shown some wonderful examples of these during the series, but they have been off the field with former stars of the game. The best one live for me was by Clarke during his 187 at Old Trafford. The way he used his feet to Swann was quite delightful. So few batsmen do that these days. You are allowed to leave your crease.

Worst decision
Usman Khawaja when given out caught behind to Graeme Swann at Old Trafford, not just by on-field umpire, Tony Hill, but also by third umpire Kumar Dharmasena. There was a clue as to why it was not out; there was clear daylight between bat and ball. That usually means the batsman has not hit the ball!

Best Ground
Trent Bridge, a wonderfully relaxed and efficient mix of the old and the new, is always a personal favourite and it provided a spectacular first Test, with England rather fortunate that lunch arrived when it did on the nerve-shredding final day. Old Trafford has improved markedly since receiving the prod of losing a 2009 Ashes Test to Cardiff, and Durham hosted a fine first Ashes Test, although they could clearly do with installing permanent floodlights. No Ashes Test ground should be without them these days. Whether, though, the likes of Durham, Cardiff and Southampton can secure Ashes Tests after 2015 is another question. I doubt it.

Minor gripe
That England’s uncapped twelfth men are permitted to wear England caps on the field. They are supposed to be earnt.

Most obvious visit to the village green
Swann’s donkey-drop full toss that dismissed Chris Rogers lbw at Lord’s, made worse by Rogers’ failure to review the decision, with the ball clearly missing the stumps.

Worst but most popular century
Rogers’ effort on the Saturday at Durham when the ball jagged around all over the place and Rogers was often later to the ball than Cinderella. Apparently there were Englishmen cheering him to his hundred. He must be one hell of a bloke.

Best story
The fairytale that was Ashton Agar’s 98 on debut at Trent Bridge. Quite what he was doing playing in front of the increasingly excellent Nathan Lyon has not become clear, with his selection for the second Test at Lord’s when he was not fit either even more mystifying. Harsh as it might sound, it may be that never scores a Test century, because his bowling will have to improve considerably for him to be selected again in the first place.

Worst story
That players use tape on their bats to fool HotSpot, as advanced by an Australian TV station. Absolute rubbish, and its running as a news item was an embarrassment to our industry.

One thing I would change for the return series
The umpires. English and Australian umpires must be allowed to stand. The pool from which those selected to stand in this series has been criminally small. It must be enlarged.

One thing I wouldn’t change
Australia’s top five in the batting order. It has taken much rearranging of the chairs to come to this point of productivity, but Rogers, Warner, Watson, Clarke and Smith look set for now. It really is game on this winter.

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AFC West: Broncos Stuck Their Neck Out for Peyton Manning and It's Paying Off

You NFL history buffs probably know that the four teams currently in the AFC West have been there since 1970, when the old AFL West became the new AFC West when the AFL and NFL merged.

Of course, the Raiders were then in Los Angeles and the Dallas Texans moved to Kansas City and became the Chiefs.

Hard to believe now, with Oakland's current woes, that the Raiders have the best all-time record in the division at 430-316-11. They're now the long-time doormats.

Right now, the Denver Broncos own the division, and they are likely to be the owners again this year.

Here is my preseason preview of the AFC West, in descending order. Comments are welcome, as always.

- Getty Images

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Ashes 2013: Alastair Cook's England still to reach their full potential against Australia

England do not play South Africa, the No1 Test team, again until 2015, but even a whitewash over Australia in this series, while allowing them to leapfrog India into second place, would only take them within hailing distance of Graeme Smith’s team. As such, any notion that Cook’s side are the best in recent times does not yet hold up, though it has the potential.

Most dominant teams have five or six pillars that maintain their excellence, players on whom they can depend to perform more times than not. Before this Ashes series, they were James Anderson and Graeme Swann with the ball and Cook, Jonathan Trott, Kevin Pietersen and Matt Prior with the bat. But while Anderson and Swann have played their parts in England’s two wins against Australia, the other pillars have not, with Ian Bell and Joe Root instead playing the telling innings. Happy situation though that is for the two leading run-scorers, it means this England team have consigned Australia to two defeats without ever firing fully.

With hundreds in each match, Bell is making up for when he was Shane Warne’s meek figure of fun in 2005. The “Sherminator”though has since sprouted pecs and discovered a self-belief that comes from within rather than from a pep talk with the psychologist.

Warne has a theory that players such as Bell do better when they have Pietersen alongside, something that will be tested should the latter not recover from his calf strain before the third Test at Old Trafford in nine days.

Root’s continued rise to prominence has not been a revelation for everyone. For those who have been involved in his recent development, his ability to cope with the pressure, expectation and extra quality of international cricket and treat it like a fun game in the park, has not come as a huge surprise. Yet, still only 22, his record at under-19 level is not sparkling so those who have known him longer reckon something crucial has clicked in the past few years for him to rival Cook’s impressive start to Test cricket seven years ago.

“Well, they are both mature for young men and Alastair had a similar mentality when he was Joe’s age,” said Graham Gooch, England’s batting coach yesterday. “He was mature in the mind, he knew exactly how he could score runs and I think anyone who saw Joe in the winter saw that too.

“When he was suddenly promoted to the one-day side in India last winter, he walked straight in and you’d have thought he’d been playing this sort of game the whole time. He has a confidence about him.”

Australian supporters at Lord’s were certainly lusting over his calm authority. While their young batsmen were careless, uncertain and impatient at Lord’s, Root exuded control that sets up winning scores in Test matches, at least until he was caught playing a ramp shot for 180. Yet even that was an attempt to reach his 200 with the minimum of hold-up after Michael Clarke put most of his fielders on the boundary.

Australia felt they had a good plan for Root, to pitch it up and swing it, given his preference for playing off the back foot until well set. But plans are all very well if you have the bowlers to activate them, which Australia do not seem overly blessed with at present.

Normally, injury to Pietersen would be a concern for England but apart from a handy 64 in the second innings at Trent Bridge, his lack of runs (21 in the other three innings this series) has not been much missed.

Last time Australia were here England managed to win the Ashes without him playing the last three Tests after he damaged his Achilles tendon, which could be repeated unless he recovers fully from his calf strain.

Who would come in for Pietersen is not clear, as England do not have great strength in depth apart from in the pace bowling department. Ben Stokes and Eoin Morgan both trained with England in the build up to the Lord’s match while Ravi Bopara has been happily restored to the England one-day team where he once more shone, with ball as well as bat. But while occupation of the crease retains its appeal for sides 2-0 up in a five-match series, you cannot rule out Nick Compton.

While England’s batting has discovered new pillars, the bowling has been reliant, as ever, on Swann and Anderson, which is perhaps how it should be in a four-man attack. Although not quite Warne and Glenn McGrath, they are nevertheless a potent combination on the dry, bare pitches ordered by England, though their best performance has yet to coincide in the same match this series.

When it does, and when Cook, Trott and Prior find their appetite, Australia could need trauma counsellors.

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Why the Rangers Aren’t Begging Their Fans to Return

Rangers fans during the playoffs last season.

The NHL published a full-page apology to fans in newspapers today, thanking them for their patience and saying that the league is "committed to earning back your trust and support the same way it's earned on the ice: with hard work and unwavering dedication." It's a relatively empty gesture, as far as these things go, but it's telling that the league is still in apology mode with opening night just two days away. It knows there are certain types of fans it's in danger of losing, and the league desperately doesn't want to be seen as anti-fan after a lockout in which the league's supporters were the undisputed losers.

Contrast that with the tone and content of an e-mail Rangers owner Jim Dolan sent to a fan this week (the validity of which, by the way, was confirmed by a team spokesperson to Newsday). Here, first, is the e-mail the fan, Joseph Hellman, wrote to Dolan:

The line about accepting that attending games is a luxury is profoundly sad, but we'll let that go for now. Here's Dolan's response:

Believe as much as you'd like about that e-mail, like whether the team couldn't possibly have done more because it's so focused on bringing its fans a championship. (What exactly that means, we're not sure.) It sort of doesn't matter, though, because there's something else to be learned here. The Rangers don't really feel the need to make any big gestures to win back their diehard fans right now because they frankly don't have to. Would it be great if they slashed ticket prices? Of course. But go try to buy a ticket to opening night on the secondary market, and you'll see there's plenty of demand, even with tickets at full price. Dolan's e-mail doesn't beg the fan to stick with the Rangers; it doesn't have to.

If anything, Dolan is putting himself in the same boat as the fan, and he's not bullshitting when he says no one wanted to play hockey more than the Rangers. Not only does the team have the potential to be among the league's best, but Dolan knows that it's profitable, too. That isn't true across the NHL, and in many cities, the sport is still in its infancy, relatively speaking. (There are no third-generation Blue Jackets fans.) The league, representing both its strong franchises and its struggling ones, needs to make a show of being sorry, and must make an effort to, at the very least, maintain its existing fan base. That's not as big a priority for the Rangers, who can still count on their core supporters to care even after a work stoppage. (We are sort of curious to see what these "fan engagement tactics" are, though.)

This isn't to say the Rangers are the talk of the town right now; there's plenty of room to grow its fan base by winning over new fans, or further engaging the casual ones. But while the league has to consider fans across the continent, the Rangers know their situation was pretty desirable before the lockout and remains pretty desirable now. The NHL needs to do damage control, but the Rangers can go about their business, more or less as usual.

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