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ScorecardAndrew Gale can anticipate a second chance to lift the title•Getty Images

Andrew Gale could have written the script. Next week, a little under a year after a last-minute ruling from the England and Wales Cricket board denied him his dream of lifting the Championship trophy as Yorkshire captain, he will realise his ambition on their own front lawn, so to speak, at Lord’s.That this will happen is a formality after Yorkshire’s third win by an innings in the space of seven matches left them within a handful of points of winning the title for the second year running. Now they take on Middlesex, currently in second place, knowing that when they turn up at headquarters next Wednesday, a draw would put Middlesex out of the running and give Yorkshire enough points to ensure that Nottinghamshire could not catch up even if they won all their remaining matches with maximum points.

Gale reluctant to lose 16-game Championship

Yorkshire captain Andrew Gale has spoken against reducing the number of Championship fixtures from the current 16 per team in any restructuring of domestic cricket.
It is expected that a cut to 14 — opposed by county chief executives but supported in principle by county chairman after consultations at Lord’s this week — will be recommended when the ECB executive meets at the end of the month.
Polled by the Professional Cricketers’ Association, the majority of players said they wanted the primacy of the Championship to be preserved and Gale, about to lead his team to a second consecutive title, is among them.
“I’m not against 14 games but only as long as there is symmetry in the fixtures,” he said, “but I would prefer 16 because I think you need that number to properly reflect who is the best side in that format over a season.
“I’m also a Yorkshireman and a traditionalist and if you asked the members I think 99 per cent of them would want 16 games as well.”

As Yorkshire celebrated this crushing win, Gale revealed that the title had not been mentioned in the dressing room, even though it is so close, but he was not denying the gleam in his own eye. Told that, because he was suspended after his verbal attack on Lancashire’s Ashwell Prince, he would have to stand aside as Yorkshire received their trophy last season, what should have been the sweetest moment of his career was soured. He knew he might never have the chance again but now 12 months later he has.”Since we came back for pre-season, the motivation for me to lift that trophy again after what happened last season has been a big driver,” he said. “To win back to back Championship trophies will be special but, for me, to actually lift the trophy myself will be even more special.”It would have been nice to do it here in front of our own fans but to do so at Lord’s, the home of cricket, will be a fantastic experience. I’m sure people will travel down to be there too.”And I don’t know if you noticed but I’ve been keeping my mouth firmly shut during this game, leaving the others to do the talking. And I’ll be keeping it shut again next week, just concentrating on the job in hand.”Amid intense competition for places at Headingley, Gale’s sometimes patchy batting form has again put him under pressure to justify his place but he has inspirational qualities as an individual to which his players respond time and again.On this occasion, his bowlers delivered twice, skittling Somerset for 110 in the first innings and making short work of them second time around. Resuming at 44 for 2 on the third morning, the relegation-threatened west countrymen managed to survive 35 minutes without losing a wicket but once the first incision was make by Steve Patterson they were ripped apart with ruthless zeal.Tom Cooper, driving expansively, was first to go, caught behind, followed by Jim Allenby, taken at third slip. Once James Hildreth, having reached 57 following his reprieve on 18 on Wednesday evening, had been seen off by Jack Brooks, it became only a matter of how quickly Yorkshire could finish the job.In the event, it was before lunch, more or less, the interval having been delayed for all of two minutes after the ninth wicket fell before Tim Groenewald squirted a catch to Gary Ballance at point off Tim Bresnan and the celebrations began. From the first wicket of the morning to the last there were 19 overs precisely, the last eight Somerset wickets falling for 68 runs.Patterson and Ryan Sidebottom in particular were impressive, the latter moving to within one wicket of 700 for his career in first-class matches, although Somerset’s resistance was feeble, their performance collectively that of a side who could not wait to be on the coach home.Their captain, Marcus Trescothick, admitted the next two matches are more important.”This was a comprehensive defeat and we were completely outplayed,” he said. “Yorkshire executed their skills far greater than we did in every aspect of the game. It is why they will almost certainly be champions for the second year.”Our next game is a crucial relegation clash with Hampshire and it is a massive game in the context of the season. We need to improve our skills and put in a much better performance to get the result we want.”We follow that with a visit to Hove so we have eight days of challenging cricket in nine days. We have got a mental battle ahead of us over the last few weeks of the season.”

And so begins Brendon McCullum Month. It is not officially marked on calendars in New Zealand, probably only because they were already printed when he announced his decision just before Christmas. But expect February to be a month of celebration of McCullum’s career, beginning with his final ODI series, continuing with his 100th Test in Wellington and ending with his Test finale in Christchurch. By the end of it, he hopes to hold the Chappell-Hadlee and Trans-Tasman Trophies.Not that his back would necessarily stand up to holding them at the same time. McCullum has missed the past month with a back injury and returned against Pakistan on Sunday, in New Zealand’s victory in the third and final ODI at Eden Park. It was hardly the perfect comeback for McCullum, who was caught hooking for a golden duck, and he said that while he felt the effects of nearly 50 overs in the field, he was confident he could stand up to another month of cricket.”I was a bit stiff and sore on that first game out, and it was incredibly heavy as well which a lot of guys commented on which has it demands anyway, let along if you’ve coming in with a bit of a sore back as well,” McCullum said on Tuesday. “But I’ve got three or four weeks left of international cricket and I want to get out there and compete and try and do as much as I can to make a contribution to the team.”The fact that you’re a bit stiff and sore, you try and play through and hopefully it will be fine. But also you don’t want to be to the detriment of your team, you’ve got to make sure you’re at a level where you think you’re able to operate as well and we’ll certainly make an honest assessment of that as we head into each game.”But you get the sense McCullum would have to be physically unable to walk to miss any of these matches against Australia, the one-day and Test series being “certainly the one that we’ve been waiting for,” in his words. The teams last met in one-day cricket in the World Cup final at the MCG but from that side Australia will be missing the retired Michael Clarke, Brad Haddin and Mitchell Johnson, the injured Mitchell Starc and Aaron Finch, and the overlooked Shane Watson.”We had our opportunity in the World Cup and we ran second, but we’re really proud of how we played throughout that World Cup,” McCullum said. “But it’s a year down the track now and both teams have changed quite substantially. For us it’s a three-match series with the Chappell-Hadlee on the line and our chance to test our skills against the best.”Well, against most of the best, anyway. Arguably Australia’s most in-form batsman at present is Usman Khawaja, who since the start of the home Test series against New Zealand has averaged 123.28 across all formats at all levels. But Australia’s selectors are still unable to squeeze Khawaja into the ODI side, preferring Shaun Marsh to open with David Warner in Auckland.”I was a bit surprised to be honest,” McCullum said of Khawaja’s omission. “He’s been the in-form batsman of the Australian summer across all forms of the game. He’s in incredible touch … the guy replacing him Shaun Marsh is a very good player as well and we saw that in Adelaide. Australia have so much depth they can afford to have guys missing but they’ll be replaced by guys who are equally as strong.”Khawaja is a certain starter for the first Test in Wellington, though, and his presence in the ODI squad means that he now misses out on the chance for a red-ball warm-up: he would otherwise have been playing this week’s Sheffield Shield match for Queensland. Australia’s captain, Steven Smith, said he expected Khawaja to play at some point in the Chappell-Hadlee Series, with the Tests following so closely.”I think he will play one of the games, at least,” Smith said. “He does need a hit going into what is a big Test series for us, and he is batting extremely well, so he is unlucky to miss out. But Shaun is going to get the first opportunity as he played well in Australia and he is batting extremely well as well, so he’s getting the first opportunity.”Australia also decided against picking the legspinner Adam Zampa and instead opted for just the one spin option, allrounder Glenn Maxwell, despite the fact that New Zealand have included legspinner Ish Sodhi in their squad for this game. The spin extracted by Pakistan’s part-time legspinner Azhar Ali on the same pitch on Sunday showed New Zealand that Sodhi could be a good option, but Smith said Australia preferred to trust their pacemen.”We think that the wicket might swing around a bit, we saw that in the World Cup game we played here, the ball swung around for a good 30 odd overs or whatever we lasted with the bat and whatever New Zealand lasted with the bat chasing,” Smith said. “So, we suspect it will swing around a little bit and we’re going to make use of that. So no surprises they’ve brought in a legspinner, he can play and he’s got some good skills. If he gets an opportunity hopefully we can go after him a little bit.”

Pakistan are looking forward to the ICC World Twenty20, with the fast-paced nature of the game being ideally suited to their young and dynamic side.Shahid Afridi, who has already hit 229 sixes in ODIs, would be keen to showcase his abilities in the tournament. “It’s like watching the highlights, you definitely have a more energetic feeling in Twenty20,” Afridi said. “But you can play sensibly as well during the first six or seven overs because 20 overs is still a lot; you still need to keep wickets in hand for the end.”Younis Khan was also taken in by the Twenty20 game.”It’s fast and furious and good for the skills. It’s under that sort of pressure that you find out about yourself,” he said. “The boys are used to it and we should have the edge over the other Asian teams, but it is a funny type of cricket so you never know … “Meanwhile, Salman Butt, the Pakistan vice-captain, believed that the pool game against India in Durban on September 14 was guaranteed to ensure the team was at their most motivated. “We always have good games against India and we respect them as a good side. They bring out the best in us,” Butt said.

Division One

2nd dayChris Adams struck a belligerent 156 for Sussex who finally declared on an impressive 531 for 6 against Durham at Hove. The visitors then capitulated in their reply – Mushtaq Ahmed picked up 6 for 64, and Jason Lewry 4 for 55 – as Sussex dismissed them for just 150. Phil Mustard top-scored with 58 but there was scant little from his team-mates. Their day didn’t improve when they followed on, either, with Yasir Arafat and Mushtaq picking up two wickets as Durham stare down the barrel, still trailing by 339 runs.Simon Cook made the most of his role as nightwatchman with 71 as Kent and Yorkshire battled out a tight day, reduced by rain, at Headingley. Cook and Robert Key added 80 for the second wicket and then when Cook fell, Martin van Jaarsveld stroked an unbeaten 59. Yorkshire hit back as Deon Kruis took two wickets and Adil Rashid impressed again with two wickets in two balls, which included trapping Dwayne Bravo lbw for a duck.On a stop-start second day at Southampton,Hampshire struggled against Warwickshire who were finally bowled out for 401. In reply Hampshire were indebted to James Adams at the top of the order who batted very patiently while Paul Harris, the South Africa slow-left-armer, took two wickets to stymie Hampshire’s progress. The home side finished some 275 runs behind with seven wickets remaining.1st dayOwais Shah followed up his century in the Pro40 with an unbeaten 73 as Middlesex made a decent start on a slow, and truncated, opening day against Lancashire at Old Trafford. Ed Smith was removed early, trapped lbw by Kyle Hogg, and Middlesex’s progress was turgid on a slow and low surface. Nick Compton took 87 balls to reach double figures before eventually falling just after lunch to Hogg. Shah and Ed Joyce upped the tempo with a third-wicket stand of 58 before Joyce fell to Glen Chapple. Shah was progressing comfortably when rain forced an early tea and didn’t allow any more play.

Division Two

3rd day
No play was possible between Somerset and Glamorgan at Taunton as heavy rain moved through the South West of England.2nd dayA magnificent third-wicket partnership of 170 between Mark Pettini and Ravinder Bopara gave Essex a first innings lead over Surrey on the second day at Colchester.Resuming on 32 for 2 the pair steadied Essex with Bopara the more aggressive of the two, smashing 12 fours and a six – but they both fell in the nineties to give Surrey some hope. James Foster continued their fine efforts, though, in a cautious half-century and received excellent support from James Middlebrook. Essex lead by 69 runs with four wickets remaining.Rain prevented much play at Leicester between Leicestershire and Worcestershire. Gareth Batty fell two short of a fine hundred as the visitors declared on an imposing 456 for 8. In reply, the home side moved to 40 without loss.1st dayJust 30.4 overs were possible on the opening day between Derbyshire and Gloucestershire at Derby. The home side made a fine start, reducing Gloucestershire to 5 for 2 and they claimed their first bowling point when Steffan Jones shifted Phil Weston moments before the rain arrived. Jon Lewis made his way the ground after being omitted at The Oval but his services have not been needed yet.

Sir Donald Bradman’s Adelaide home will be heritage-listed in a decision that is against his wishes. Bradman fiercely opposed the move before his death, and was also upset by plans aiming to cash in on his name.The two-storey, red-brick house in Kensington Park was initially recommended for state heritage listing in 1987, but the plan was dropped when Bradman objected. In a letter written three years before his death Bradman said: “At 89 years of age I am not prepared to exist just to satisfy the autograph-hunters’ requests. People just seem to want my signature before I die.”But an Adelaide council is again trying to celebrate the home in a move that has drawn criticism from Bradman’s supporters. “Sir Don Bradman was against it being listed because of his privacy issues and that’s understandable,” John Hanlon, the council’s chief executive officer, told ABC Radio. “However, we have now decided to list that property and, I might add, we haven’t received any objections from the family in relation to that.”Bradman’s grand-daughter Greta said the family accepted that heritage listing of the home was inevitable. The Don moved to Kensington Park from Sydney in 1935 and died there on February 25, 2001.

Shaun Pollock
On the pitch
It wasn’t easy as there was not a lot on offer, but it was nice to have the sea breeze and get a little bit of movement in the air. In the subcontinent if you can get [the ball] to do something, to cut or swing, it obviously makes the batter think a bit. There was a little bit of that with the two new balls and it worked for us.On South Africa’s day
It was important we got off to a good start, and we got two early wickets and picked up more pretty regularly through the day. If you said 279 for 7 on that deck on the first day of a Test match we would have been more than happy. Those last two wickets were definitely the cherry on the top, and I’m sure that knocked them a little bit in the dressing-room. Our first innings is really important. If we can cash in and put a big score on the board and they have to catch up, then we are in control.On Jayawardene’s innings
He played really well and kept us out there. He was patient and applied himself on a pitch that was batsman-friendly.On whether the pitch will deteriorate
The ideal thing from our perspective is not to think there are gremlins. We have got to go out there looking to be positive. Even if there are balls that are turning big or going through the top, we are going to have to try and play every ball on its merits.Mahela Jayawardene
On Sri Lanka’s day
It was a very difficult day for us. We lost early wickets and every time we thought we could get on top of them we lost more wickets. I knew I had to bat as long as possible. We are disappointed that we lost two wickets towards the end. If we had been five down tomorrow it would have been a very good day. But I think we have a couple of decent guys inside who can hang around a bit. I think 350 would be a very good score on this wicket, because it is very slow and spinners will get a lot of turn on it. South Africa will have to bat last. Hopefully, we can do the job.On South Africa’s bowlers
South Africa bowled to a very good plan, especially the quicks. They knew that they didn’t have that much in the wicket so they bowled to a decent line and length. We had to be very patient to get our runs. When a couple of us played bad shots they put the pressure on. [Nicky] Boje bowled well, getting some turn, and the others just stuck to their task, bowling one side of the wicket trying to force us to make a mistake.On batting on the Galle pitch
I enjoy batting on this track, but it is usually a much better wicket than this. It was pretty hard as the ball was not coming onto the bat and I had to wait for the bad stuff. I could not force myself and try to dominate the bowlers. It will get worse, there is no doubt about that. Murali was talking a lot in the break after Boje got some turn. I never expected the pitch to give that much turn so early in the game, so I am sure that Murali and Upul [Chandana] will look forward to bowling on it.

Cricket fans are expected to flood the Trent Bridge switchboard with a barrage of calls on Monday when tickets for the Twenty20 Cup Finals Day are released on general sale.Nottingham’s world famous Test ground was last month confirmed as the venue for the final of cricket’s exciting new 20-overs-a-side competition.And when the event takes place on July 19 it will be the first time that a domestic cricket final has been moved away from headquarters at Lord’s.With both semi-finals and the floodlit final being played on the same day – not to mention interval entertainment from the UK’s top girl band, Atomic Kitten – tickets for ‘The People’s Final’ are expected to be snapped up.Trent Bridge Sales and Marketing Manager Lisa Pusehouse said: “It is a great coup and also an honour for Notts to land this showcase event and it has created a terrific buzz around the ground.”Ticket pricing for the finals day is very attractive, especially considering they allow people to see three great games of cricket and live music.”Twenty20 is all about getting new people into cricket grounds so where better to start than at the top by seeing a major national sporting event in a world famous venue amongst a sell-out crowd.”Judging by the massive response from our members, who were given the opportunity to reserve their seats in advance this week, we fully expect all tickets available for general sale to go very quickly.”Tickets for the Finals Day are priced at just £30 for adults for premium parts of the ground and £20 in other areas, while juniors under-16 who are accompanied by an adult pay a flat rate of £10.The Twenty20 Cup gets under way on Friday June 13 with all 18 first class counties competing in three regional groups of six teams who will play each other once.Group games will be played in the evening between 5.30pm and 8.15pm with the three group winners plus the best runner-up going through to Trent Bridge.Tickets for the Finals Day can be booked from Monday May 19 either on-line at www.trentbridge.co.uk or by calling the Trent Bridge Hotline on 0870 168 8888.

Glamorgan Dragons all but gained promotion to Division One of the Norwich Union League when they defeated Hampshire Hawks by a convincing 51 run margin.After Newell and Thomas had given the home side a quick start, their innings stumbled to 55 for 4 as Mascarenhas and Mullally put out the stops.Former England star Matthew Maynard, however, restored the impetus of the innings putting on 68 with Michael Powell and 92 with stand-in skipper Adrian Dale.Maynard’s sparkling 116 not out from only 103 balls included 12 fours and two huge sixes to delight the home crowd and the Sky TV viewers.With the sun setting and moisture on the outfield, the target of 245 to win batting second was always going to be a tough ask.Hampshire pulled off a surprise start by promoting James Hamblin, whose previous best score in the NUL was just 5 to open the innings with Neil Johnson. Hamblin struck the ball well, hitting 18 runs off one over from Owen Parkin and contributing a quickfire 37 off 22 balls.Johnson was more circumspect, but his run-a-ball innings of 66 was the only decent contribution to a disappointing collapse.The innings turned in Glamorgan’s favour when their twin spin pair of Dean Cosker and Robert Croft came together and by the time they had completed their 18 over stint, the Hampshire innings was in disarray.Taking advantage of the damp conditions and the poor floodlighting, Croft dismissed four of the middle order, including Johnson and Cosker bowled a tidy spell of nine overs for 25.Glamorgan’s victory was celebrated by the large crowd with the team running around the pitch in thanks to their fans. Hampshire, although not totally out of the promotion stakes must now win their last two matches against Middlesex at West End and Sussex at Hove, and hope that other results elsewhere go their way if they are to be in the final shake-up at the end of the season.

Almost a month after receiving the no-conflict-of-interest declaration from the BCCI, four member associations, including that of BCCI treasurer Anirudh Chaudhry, have still not signed the declaration. The issue is likely to be taken up at next week’s BCCI working committee.Haryana Cricket Association, Tamil Nadu Cricket Association, Karnataka State Cricket Association and Hyderabad Cricket Association have still not signed the dotted line of the no-conflict-of-interest declaration circulated by the BCCI secretary Anurag Thakur on July 21. Interestingly, all the four associations are loyal supporters of the former BCCI president N Srinivasan, though others close to him have signed it. Two of these four associations confirmed to ESPNcricinfo they will raise their concerns during next week’s working committee meeting, scheduled to be held in Kolkata on August 28.

Highlights of the conflict-of-interest declaration

• A ‘conflict of interest’ may arise by way of being influenced with any private or personal interest, directly or indirectly, while discharging my duties and responsibilities as Office Bearer of the Association

• Not to secure, receive or be part of any decision which may tend to scuttle my enshrined duties and responsibilities or which may ensure any benefit to me or to my relations, including financial, commercial or any other vested interest

• Not associated with any Institution or otherwise which derives any financial, commercial or any other benefits or gain from the BCCI directly or indirectly, other than the official grants received by the Association

• Not received any personal benefit directly or indirectly through my family or relations, while discharging my duties as Office Bearer

• Not hold any ‘Office of Profit’ or ‘commercial interest’ in any Institution or otherwise which derives any financial, commercial or any other benefits or gain from the BCCI

• Not made, and shall not be part of any decision from which any advantage, directly or indirectly could be derived by me, any of my family members, close relatives or otherwise constituting breach of the Code of Conduct of the BCCI or the Association

• In the event of any act, function of the Association or any decision making process or related to any Tournament or otherwise, any conflict of interest do arise, I shall forthwith disclose the same and refrain myself from being associated with the same in any manner whatsoever

Haryana hasn’t yet signed because, according to an association insider, the communication is “invalid since it’s not a working committee resolution”. TNCA and KSCA will seek clarifications on the definition of business and commercial commitments of players and office-bearers. Hyderabad Cricket Association, meanwhile, is still deliberating the issue and will finalise its stance in an executive committee meeting later this week.TNCA secretary Kasi Viswanathan said they needed “a lot of clarifications at the working committee on what constituted business and commercial commitments of players as well as office-bearers” before the association can sign the document. TNCA’s alleged conflicts of interest, with president Srinivasan’s family business owning an IPL franchise, is considered to be the root cause of the problem.In fact, during its probe of the IPL corruption scandal, Supreme Court-appointed Justice Mukul Mudgal panel had barred none of the individuals associated with India Cements to be involved in Indian cricket.While KSCA secretary Brijesh Patel and president PR Ashok Anand remained unavailable for a comment, a KSCA source elaborated on their grievances. “Even the top players are associated with a lot of franchises. Conflict of interest… even some of our players are there as selectors, coaches, some of the life members are there as coaches, whether it will be applicable to cricketers. So BCCI’s clarification is required. No way [we will sign this before we get clarification],” he said.Patel, interestingly, wears plenty of hats at present. Besides being the KSCA secretary, the former India batsman also serves as the Royal Challengers Bangalore chief executive and the National Cricket Academy director.Hyderabad has an interesting tale, with president Arshad Ayub and secretary John Manoj both running renowned cricket academies in Hyderabad. Former HCA president Shivlal Yadav is reported to have accused both of them for selecting players mainly from their academies in Hyderabad teams during his recent deposition before the Lodha committee.”How will it be a conflict of interest?” an HCA official asked. “There are no parameters as such. Today they will say it is conflict. That means tomorrow if my son plays also then it becomes a conflict. Should he not play or what?”Lodha Committee is coming and checking. How will they know that a cricketer will start his life naturally with cricket [as a player] and if he wants to go into managing committee… he shouldn’t be stopped from doing that, no? Other than that [being involved in cricket], what we can do, you tell me?”While Thakur was unavailable for comment, a BCCI official clarified that the board was open to answering all doubts. In fact, when one of the four disgruntled association representatives raised the issue with the BCCI officials, he was told to “write in with all the objections so that they can be dealt with”. So far, the BCCI has not received any written communication.As for the lack of a working committee stamp on the BCCI circular, the official clarified that the BCCI rulebook authorises the secretary to initiate such actions with the permission of the president.Besides the former players’ involvement in various capacities, one of the major conflict of interest areas has been the in-stadia rights allocation for international matches. For every international match that even a small centre gets to host once every three years, it is observed that many associations award the in-stadia rights to kin of the key officials and allegedly get kickbacks.While Thakur is walking away with the credit for setting the motion in process, a BCCI old-timer said the move has been part of Dalmiya’s plans for a long time. He recalled an incident in 2004-05, when Dalmiya, who was the de facto head of the BCCI with Ranbir Singh Mahendra as a proxy president, had proposed a similar declaration. Facing flak during the controversial allocation of TV rights, Dalmiya had proposed in a working committee to sign an undertaking declaring no conflict of interest in awarding the broadcast rights and signed it himself. Other BCCI officials, however, objected to it.The declaration circulated by Thakur last month asks each office-bearer of all 30 full members to confirm: “I am not in any manner or mode associated or connected with any Institution, body Corporate, Association of persons, Partnership or otherwise in any form or manner which derives any financial, commercial or any other benefits or gain from the Board of Control for Cricket in India directly or indirectly, other than the official grants received by the Association I represent.”

Brendon McCullum will play for Middlesex for part of next summer’s NatWest T20 Blast and the Royal London One-Day Cup. McCullum, who this week announced his retirement from international cricket, will be available to play for Middlesex from the moment his commitments at the Indian Premier League finish through to June 25.During this period Middlesex CCC are scheduled to play seven NatWest T20 Blast and four Royal London One-Day Cup matches. Middlesex are also hopeful that McCullum will be able to return to the UK if they qualify for the knockout stages of either of these tournaments.McCullum’s decision to join Middlesex represents a blow for Warwickshire who had hoped to follow-up his brief but successful stay in 2015 – including a record 158 in 64 balls against Derbyshire at Edgbaston.Middlesex are delighted by the signing, even for only half of the T20 season, of a player they hailed as “one of the most respected and dynamic cricketers in the modern game.”Angus Fraser, Middlesex’s managing director of cricket, said: “Signing a player of Brendon’s undoubted quality is a huge coup for the club. He is one of the most respected, capable and dangerous cricketers in world cricket and will create a great deal of excitement around the club. When he walks out to bat everybody stops what they are doing to watch.””Brendon’s involvement highlights Middlesex’s commitment to white ball cricket and we are all looking forward to working with him both on and off the field. His presence will ensure that Thursday evenings at Lord’s will be ‘must see’ events.”McCullum became one of the most popular opposition players in England for many years last summer when his aggressive batting and captaincy was at the heart of arguably the most crowd-pleasing New Zealand side ever seen in the country.Middlesex were somewhat overshadowed by their neighbours across the river, Surrey, as the NatWest Blast attracted record crowds in 2015 and they have failed to make an impact in the competition despite the presence in their ranks for much of the season of England’s one-day captain Eoin Morgan.But London has still led the growth of T20 cricket in England and they will hope that McCullum will help provide the impetus they need. They have also signed James Fuller from Gloucestershire to stiffen their bowling ranks.