It is fair to say that some of Kevin Thelwell’s summer signings have failed to hit the ground running for Glasgow Rangers, which may have played a part in the club’s decision to part ways with the sporting director.

The English chief made a host of moves to alter the squad in the summer and the headline-maker was the £8m deal to sign Youssef Chermiti from Premier League side Everton.

So far, the Portugal U21 international has scored one goal in 18 appearances in all competitions for the Scottish Premiership giants, per Sofascore, as he has failed to show that he has what it takes to lead the line for Rangers.

Chermiti is not the only summer signing who has failed to make a positive impact at Ibrox this season, though, as the club should already be considering Thelo Aasgaard’s future in Glasgow.

Why Rangers should consider selling Thelo Aasgaard

Rangers signed the Norway international from Luton Town for a fee of £3.5m in the summer transfer window, and he has endured a difficult time in Scotland so far.

Aasgaard, who has played as a central midfielder or as an attacking midfielder, has only provided one goal and one assist in 24 appearances in all competitions for the Scottish giants, per Sofascore.

In fact, the former Wigan Athletic star has as many red cards (one) as goals scored (one) for Rangers, having been sent off against Celtic in the semi-final of the League Cup at Hampden Park towards the start of Danny Rohl’s reign.

Earlier this month, Heart & Hand content creator David Edgar suggested that Aasgaard should be sold because the team lacks “quality” and is too “slow”, whilst Chermiti and Danilo were named alongside him in that assessment.

Whilst it may seem reactionary to sell the attacking midfielder in the next transfer window, after half-a-season at the club, they run the risk of his value plummeting even further if he cannot turn his form around at Ibrox.

The Rangers player who could end Thelo Aasgaard's Ibrox career

In order to cash in on the £3.5m flop, though, Rangers will either need someone in the current squad to step up into his role or they will need to bring in a new signing in the January transfer window.

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Rohl could save the owners millions on a new signing by unleashing the rarely-seen Lyall Cameron in the coming weeks, because he has the potential to step up and offer more than Aasgaard in the attacking midfield position.

The Scottish midfielder is not available for the clash with Hearts on Sunday, unfortunately, but he should be given an opportunity to shine when he is back fit with games coming thick and fast in the next few weeks.

Cameron has only played 419 minutes in all competitions since his move from Dundee in the summer, per Transfermarkt, and 19 players have played more minutes than him, including Aasgaard, who has racked up 1,210 minutes.

The 23-year-old talent, who has scored one goal for the Gers so far, proved his quality in the Scottish Premiership in the 2024/25 campaign, which suggests that he has the potential to offer more in the final third.

24/25 Premiership

Lyall Cameron

Rank vs CMs

xG

3.80

Top 7%

Goals

9

Top 4%

xA

4.78

Top 10%

Chances created

54

Top 4%

Assists

5

Top 9%

Successful dribbles

22

Top 12%

Stats via FotMob

As you can see in the table above, the rarely-seen Light Blues midfielder has the ability to score and assist goals at an impressive rate in the top-flight, as he proved himself last term.

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Former Rangers technical director Nils Koppen claimed that Cameron “has a lot of potential”, which is backed up by his impressive statistics for his former club in the Premiership.

On top of his league form, the attacking midfielder also scored five goals and provided four assists in eight cup matches for Dundee, per Transfermarkt, which took his tally for the season to 14 goals and nine assists.

Unfortunately, he has not had the opportunities and minutes that Aasgaard has been given in his position so far this season for the Scottish giants, but there is still time for that to change.

His impressive statistics for Dundee suggest that he can end Aasgaard’s career if given the chance to play regular minutes, because a return of goals and assists on a regular basis in midfield would allow the club to cash in on the Norwegian flop, knowing that they have Cameron in their squad.

Related Rangers star was a huge flop under Martin, now he's a bigger hit than Miovski

This Glasgow Rangers star who struggled under Russell Martin now looks like a bigger hit than Bojan Miovski.

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As reported by The Daily Mail, Everton are set to step up their pursuit of Sevilla midfielder Steven N’Zonzi.

What’s the story?

The January transfer window is an important one for the Toffees, with new boss Sam Allardyce getting a chance to stamp his own authority on a squad hastily assembled by Ronald Koeman.

One area that could do with strengthening is midfield and it appears that Allardyce is homing in on one of his top targets.

The Daily Mail report that Everton are set to ramp up their efforts to sign Sevilla star Steven N’Zonzi over the next 48 hours, with a £25m move in the offing.

The paper say that the club are hoping to do their business early in the transfer window and that N’Zonzi is keen on the switch to Merseyside after a falling out with the club.

What will he offer?

N’Zonzi has significant playing experience behind him at 29-years-old and at Sevilla has proven to be an elite midfielder at the top level, with excellent technical ability and a physical presence that should enhance Everton’s midfield in a defensive sense.

His form has been that good at the La Liga club over the last year that he gained his first ever caps for the French national team in November, featuring in matches against Germany and Wales.

Spending six seasons in the Premier League with Blackburn Rovers and Stoke City, he won’t need time to adjust to life at Everton and can immediately improve Sam Allardyce’s first team.

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The reported £25m is good value for a quality UEFA Champions League player at his peak and Everton should waste no time in capitalising on his fall out with Sevilla.

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Singha CC beat the much fancied Sinhalese Sports Club by three wickets in the Board of Control for Cricket in Sri Lanka Premier Limited Overs game at Maitland Place today. The victory for the Southern Province side was a major upset against the SSC, who contain no less than six test players.Were it not for the former Sri Lanka catain, Arjuna Ranatunga, who made 23 and Ruchira Perera, who made 20, SSC would not even have reached three figures. They were finally bowled out for 132 in 43.2 overs.After the start of the match was delayed by half an hour due to heavy overnight rains, Singha CC won the toss and asked SSC into bat first. The pitch was one of five recently re-laid. With the covers not having been on throughout the week, there was still moisture in the wicket, which made life difficult for the batsmen.Medium pace bowlers, Priyankara Silva and Chamara Zoysa, maintained a good accurate line and length to share four wickets apiece. The other wicket taker was Samara Jayantha with 2 for 16.In reply Singha CC lost wickets at regular intervals until a fifth wicket partnership of 46 between Chamara Silva (30) and Asela Wewalwala (13) brought them within sight of the victory target.When both batsmen were dismissed SSC sniffed a slight chance of victory. However, Thilila Thushura, who scored 20 not out with one six and one four, ensured a memorable victory for Singha with some brave strokeplay at the death.Dilhara Fernando was once again in the wickets, picking up 3 for 16. He was well supported by Pramodya Wickramasinghe, who picked up two wickets. SSC now have chance to redeem themselves against Tamil Union tomorrow.

	Steve Kirby may be celebrating Chris Rogers’ dismissal, but the batsman had the last laugh in the second innings with a century © Getty Images

Australian players have dominated the English county scene in recent years, in both their number and with their figures. But the IPL, the new one-overseas player limit, and, ultimately, the rain all had their part to play in limiting Australians’ appearances and their chances to contribute to the opening round of seven first-class matches last week.Chris Rogers, however, made the most of his opportunity to give a nod to the selectors who had dumped him off the contracts list, with a second-innings ton for Derbyshire in their Division Two draw with Gloucestershire in Bristol. He had made an inauspicious 3 in the first dig as the visitors collapsed.His former Western Australian team-mate Marcus North topscored in the home side’s first innings with 87 and did not bat second time out as rain put paid to proceedings after Derbyshire’s Rogers-led rally. Only three wins were registered, the four draws all victims of the weather.Lancashire captain, the English-qualified Stuart Law, made 38 as Lancashire, last year’s runners-up, drew with the champions Surrey at The Oval. His team-mate Brad Hodge made an unbeaten 43 before the rain came. Surrey were without Matt Nicholson, who had a virus.In the second division, Western Australia’s Steve Magoffin took one wicket in each innings as Worcestershire drew with Warwickshire.

‘A’ team cricket is a strange world. Tickets are often free, but the crowd is invariably sparse. Outright fast bowlers dabble in spin. Premier batsmen are content with a couple of middling knocks. Gains for the self can almost be of greater importance than those for the team. And all of it is completely logical for there are no World Cups or Test championships to fight over. Just a pecking order.Australia A, India A and South Africa A might still like to win the seven-match one-day tri-series that kicks off in Chennai on Wednesday, but they might be just as content finding solutions to make their respective first XIs stronger.In 2013, Dean Elgar struck his highest score – 268 – in first-class cricket against Australia A. He is one of the first-choice openers for South Africa and is the current captain of the A team. In 2014, Naman Ojha slammed 219 and 101 in a four-day game, remained not out both times and was chosen to tour England with the Indian Test squad in July. Australia A’s response in that same match was led by Mitchell Marsh, who cracked a double-century of his own and went on to claim the allrounder’s spot in their Test XI. The three teams meet in the 50-over format from tomorrow, but the opportunity remains the same. A good showing against an international-quality side at home or away is great for the resume.”I think it’s something that every player will think about,” Elgar said. “They might not necessarily speak about it, but they will be thinking about it because that’s their common goal. I think every person that’s playing for their A side wants to play for the national side. So they are only human to want to think for higher honours.”More pertinently, South Africa, who are in transition, are due for their longest tour of India in October. Graeme Smith, Jacques Kallis and Alviro Petersen have called time on their careers. With craters – let alone holes – to fill, players like Elgar, who is himself only 17 Tests old, Reeza Hendricks, who is among those discussed to take over the Test opener’s slot, Eddie Leie, a promising young legspinner and Wayne Parnell, who doesn’t get to play in the senior team too often, an ‘A’ tour has great significance.”This series is a big series for every player in the side just because of the changing of the guard, if you want to call it that, in various formats now in South African cricket,” Elgar said. “It’s big for the players to make a stamp, whether they get a game or two to try and make those one or two games count for them. It’s happened quite quickly back home, I don’t think anyone expected them to retire so quickly but it’s exciting as well. It just shows you the depth that we have and the hunger of the players is right up there.”A healthy bench strength is a luxury most teams would like, even if it costs the odd ‘A’ game. The scrutiny is less, and consequently so is the backlash. Only last week did Rahul Dravid term India A’s 0-1 loss to Australia A a “good lesson,” and that “the thing about this series. You have to keep learning and keep improving.”It is a policy that tends to hold good for everyone. Virat Kohli amassed over 700 runs in four Tests against Australia and is among the top-tier batsmen going around across formats. But he insisted on playing one of the ‘A’ games and used it as a chance to polish a shot he rarely plays: the sweep.”I feel as an international batsman on a personal level, you need to keep adding things that could make a difference in probably say the next 6-12 months in your game,” Kohli had said. “With bowlers bowling more attacking lines, it really comes into play, in case you want to accelerate the scoring rate. They might set fields that are difficult to pierce. If you master another shot, it just opens up dimensions in your game that will be helpful in future.”An ‘A’ team’s results don’t haunt their country’s fans and burn column inches. First-class and List A records aren’t as quickly flung back at a player’s face. The emphasis on their growth and redevelopment instead is what people are interested in.That presents as good an environment as any for someone struggling to get back in form, like Quinton de Kock. He was persisted with in the World Cup, but his rope got cut during the Bangladesh tour. He is expected to join the South Africa A squad ahead of their second one-dayer and will remain with them for the unofficial Tests as well. He would be disappointed at not being part of the ODIs against New Zealand, but it does give him some space to remedy problems that have crept in since his return from injury.The team’s needs, of course, are not altogether ignored and Australia’s Callum Ferguson said the ideal case was to balance both priorities: “Every A tour is important from an individual point of view. Guys playing in a winning side always do well. So it’s about creating a culture in which the team’s cause comes first and it’s the real focus for us.”Australia will be especially keen for some younger talent. Their one-day team is vibrant, the fast-bowling attack that helped them win the World Cup have several miles left in them. Mitchell Starc, Josh Hazlewood and Pat Cummins are not even 25 yet. Throw James Pattinson in that mix as well, he is among the 15 men in Chennai trying to work his way back up. But their batting though is not quite as healthy, especially in Tests.More often than not their solutions have been to settle for a short-term solution by picking older, seasoned players. But say if the likes of Joe Burns, Peter Handscomb, Usman Khawaja enjoy a booming series here, options open up. And most captains like looking around a room and being able to have 14 men all capable of getting into an XI and staying there for a while.

ScorecardHarry Gurney finished with eight wickets in the match•PA Photos

These are troubling times for Sussex: too many bowlers injured, too many batsmen out of form and too many counties threatening to finish above them in the First Division table. Relegation would have been a long-odds chance before the season began, but not now. Not after this desperate day’s work.Full credit to Nottinghamshire, of course, who began the latest round of matches in a similar position, at least points-wise, but have dominated their hosts from the moment on the first afternoon when James Taylor and Chris Read embarked on a sixth-wicket partnership that was to realise 365 runs.But while those two deflated Sussex, it was Harry Gurney who all but destroyed them. The currently out of favour England one-day bowler bent his back during every spell, dragging extra pace and disconcerting bounce out of a pitch which, by and large, still encouraged batsmen to dream of big scores.Gurney’s reward was a five-for in the first innings – his second against Sussex this season – and three more wickets once a doomed home side were forced to follow-on 357 runs behind. Derbyshire’s Mark Footitt may register more brightly on England’s radar at the moment when it comes to left-arm pace bowlers but, on this showing, Gurney should remain in the reckoning.”I thought Harry Gurney had an exceptional match,” said Mick Newell, Nottinghamshire’s coach. “He was fast and aggressive throughout and presented a challenge for the Sussex batsmen. He bowled with serious pace and was impressive whether he was bowling left-arm over or left-arm round. What we want to do now is see him bowl like this more consistently.”What of Sussex, though? Wins against Hampshire and Worcestershire right at the start of the season prompted thoughts of a title challenge. Now, as things stand, only Hampshire are below them in the table – and two of their last five matches are against the seemingly unstoppable Yorkshire.Much can be made of the fact that Sussex are without five pace bowlers – Chris Jordan, Tymal Mills, Ajmal Shahzad, Jimmy Anyon and Lewis Hatchett – because of injury. And of those, only Jordan can be expected, with any degree of certainty, to figure in the final third of the championship programme.As a result, the promising Ollie Robinson is playing on despite sore shins and a recently dislocated finger when he – like the equally raw Matthew Hobden – could do with a rest.But, if anything, it is the batting that currently causes even more concern, especially after today. Resuming this morning on a shaky but not hopeless 157 for 4, Sussex lost their last six wickets for 56 runs and did not even reach lunch unscathed second time around – opener Luke Wells giving catching practice to the slip cordon.Thereafter, it was helter-skelter stuff with neither the next boundary nor the next wicket very far away. Matt Machan and Luke Wright scored 108 and 67 respectively at the rate of a run a ball as a lightning fast outfield continued to give full reward, but what Sussex need more than anything was a bit of stickability.On the day when former England one-day player Mike Yardyannounced his intention to retire at the end of this season, the hosts could find no-one to play the kind of battling innings championship innings their ex-captain might have produced when at his best.The current skipper, Ed Joyce, typifies Sussex’s struggles. The Irishman scored seven championship hundreds last season while making nearly 1,400 runs at an average of 66 but this year he is century-less and averaging below 30.Joyce, Chris Nash and Craig Cachopa were all given second chances in the second innings with three catches going down. But not one of them made Notts pay any sort of price – unlike Read, who was reprieved on day one and turned 35 into 121.By the end, Sussex could not even make their visitors claim the extra half-hour, being bowled out in 61 overs for 254 to make it 310 for 16 on the day. Just as well, perhaps, that the Members’ Forum with director of cricket Mark Robinson was held this morning, rather than after play.

Fawad Alam could end a five-year hiatus from Test cricket after being named in the 15-man Pakistan squad to face England in the UAE from October. His last Test was against New Zealand in November 2009 but he has been a heavy scorer in first-class cricket. Over the last 12 months, he had made two centuries – 201 and 164 – and five fifties in 14 innings.The man making way is 20-year old Babar Azam. Alam had almost made it to the squad for the Sri Lanka tour recently but his name was pulled out due to logistical reasons and Azam replaced him.

Changes in Pakistan’s squads

For Tests v England
In: Fawad Alam
Out: Ehsan Adil, Babar Azam
For ODIs v Zimbabwe
In: Sohaib Maqsood, Wahab Riaz
Out: Bilal Asif, Ehsan Adil, Mukhtar Ahmed
For T20s v Zimbabwe
In: Sohaib Maqsood, Aamer Yamin, Bilal Asif, Imran Khan jnr
Out: Sarfraz Ahmed, Zia-ul-Haq, Nauman Anwar, Anwar Ali

“Our Test team has been an established team for years now and it is hard to make room for any new player,” Haroon Rasheed, Pakistan chief selector, told ESPNcricinfo. “Fawad Alam was in our plan for months now after his performance and we know he had been knocking at the selectors’ door for years in fact. We have added him to the squad in a bid to get ourselves ready for the transition after Misbah as we obviously need to have guys like him when our seasoned players fade away.”Pakistan received a boost in the fast bowling department as well. Wahab Riaz has recovered from the hand injury he sustained in Sri Lanka and replaced Ehsan Adil. Left-arm quick Junaid Khan has kept his place in the Test squad as well despite seeming off-colour in Sri Lanka. Junaid did not play Pakistan’s last Test in Pallekele, but kept himself busy playing for English county Middlesex over the summer.According to Rasheed, Wahab and Junaid might be suffering a dip in form but are among Pakistan’s major investments during the ongoing transition. “They are our investment and we would like to persist with them,” Rasheed said. “Both might have been low in confidence for some time now but we aren’t judging them on the basis of T20 performance. At the top level they will definitely come hard and with a different state of mind. We have named Junaid in the A team so that he can get ample time to get himself ready for the Test series.”Pakistan decided that Yasir Shah, the top-ranked spinner in the world, and Zulfiqar Babar were enough as far as slow-bowling resources were concerned. The two are vital replacements for Saeed Ajmal and Abdur Rehman, who had been Pakistan’s major assets for years in the UAE.Haris Sohail, another long-term investment Pakistan have made since 2013, missed out due to his patellar tendinitis injury. He had been undergoing rehabilitation for the injury for over a month at the NCA but failed to get himself cleared by doctors. “He is definitely one of the players who makes an automatic selection but he has not recovered ahead of the Zimbabwe series,” Rasheed said.The PCB also announced the limited-overs squads for the Zimbabwe series from September 27. Batsman Sohaib Maqsood found a place in both the ODI and T20 squads after recovering from injury. Uncapped fast bowler Imran Khan jnr and allrounder Aamer Yamin received their maiden Pakistan call-ups, with Anwar Ali rested for the T20s to help him recover from a minor groin strain. Bilal Asif was another uncapped allrounder chosen for the shortest format, but he had already toured Sri Lanka with the Pakistan ODI side.Among the more familiar names, batsman Umar Akmal and left-arm quick Sohail Tanvir were for only the T20s. Sarfraz Ahmed will miss the T20s to perform Hajj, allowing Mohammad Rizwan to keep wicket.”We have rested Anwar to give another talented allrounder Yamin a chance as part of our rebuilding,” Rasheed said. “He played a couple of outstanding innings to show his ability and we would like to take him ahead with our plan.”We meant to reward the outstanding performers from the recently concluded T20 Cup. But at the same time we are (keeping) continuity in the rebuilding phase of the Pakistan team by retaining majority of players who were part of the successful last tour of Sri Lanka.”Test squad Ahmed Shehzad, Shan Masood, Azhar Ali, Mohammad Hafeez, Fawad Alam, Asad Shafiq, Misbah-ul-Haq (capt), Younis Khan, Sarfraz Ahmed (wk), Yasir Shah, Zulfiqar Babar, Wahab Riaz, Imran Khan, Rahat Ali, Junaid KhanODI squad Azhar Ali (capt), Ahmed Shehzad, Mohammad Hafeez, Sohaib Maqsood, Shoaib Malik, Babar Azam, Asad Shafiq, Sarfraz Ahmed (wk), Mohammad Rizwan, Imad Wasim, Anwar Ali, Wahab Raiz, Yasir Shah, Rahat Ali, Mohammad IrfanT20 squad Ahmed Shehzad, Mukhtar Ahmed, Umar Akmal, Mohammad Hafeez, Shahid Afridi (capt), Sohaib Maqsood, Shoaib Malik, Aamer Yamin, Mohammad Irfan, Bilal Asif, Wahab Riaz, Imad Wasim, Sohail Tanvir, Mohammad Rizwan (wk), Imran Khan jnr

Scorecard and ball by ball detailsFile Photo – Craig Ervine hit nine fours and two sixes during his unbeaten 101•Associated Press

An unbeaten century from Craig Ervine guided Zimbabwe to a series win over Ireland in the second one-day international at the Harare Sports Club. Ervine batted for more than 40 overs in stifling heat to set up Zimbabwe’s five-wicket win with an over and a half to spare. He shared in a 98-run third wicket partnership with Sean Williams that laid the platform for Zimbabwe, after which Tino Mutombodzi helped to keep things ticking over and Sikandar Raza’s 29-ball 33 took the game away from Ireland. All the while, Ervine continued to pick gaps and the odd boundary, bringing up his ton and the end of the match with his ninth four.

Ireland coach calls for more fixtures

John Bracewell, the Ireland coach, has said that his side needs more fixtures against quality opposition to keep improving. Ireland ran Zimbabwe close in the first two games of their ongoing ODI series but lost both in the penultimate over.
“At the moment Zimbabwe have shown greater composure at the pressure points and that counts for a lot,” Bracewell said. “They have been playing a lot of tough cricket for a period of time, and that really helps you deal with pressure points. You have just come out of a series against Pakistan, you had a competitive series against New Zealand. You are getting used to competing because you are playing a lot more cricket.
“We have recognized that as a country, we need to have more fixtures, exactly like how you guys are doing – having series, being competitive, playing day in and day out, and on surfaces that are going to test you.
“We have been an event-based country. We fire up for World Cups and that is pretty much all we get. We get fragments of games in between that. We now need to play basically around the clock like all the international teams. The gap will narrow on teams the more cricket we get.”

As the match neared its conclusion, the result seemed a foregone conclusion and the question was whether or not Ervine could reach his ton within the limited runs remaining. The jovial, celebratory atmosphere in the ground was a far cry from the pressure cooker Ervine had entered into when Zimbabwe lost both of their openers within the first nine overs of their chase.Chamu Chibhabha and Richmond Mutumbami had approached their task with attacking intent, but when they fell in consecutive overs the Ireland attack had their tails up and a clear opening with Zimbabwe at 51 for 2 in the ninth over. The response from the left-handed pair of Ervine and Sean Williams was to go on the counterattack, and Ervine motored into the 20s with a flurry of boundaries, the pick of which was a shimmy-and-swipe off George Dockrell that flew high over long off.Williams, meanwhile, used the sweep to particularly good effect and brought up the fifty partnership with a one-kneed swat to the long-leg boundary. He continued to be proactive against spin, but eventually perished playing one shot too many when he lifted offspinner Andrew McBrine straight to Ed Joyce at long on. Zimbabwe were 149 for 3 then, and Ireland might have surged once more but Mutombodzi, elevated up the order, picked up where Williams left off to keep Zimbabwe ticking over.At the other end, Ervine was in cruise control, setting himself to bat right through the innings and anchor Zimbabwe’s chase. An inspired piece of fielding from George Dockrell in the covers eventually got rid of Mutombodzi in the 37th over, and had Niall O’Brien been able to hold a thick edge off Ervine’s bat in the next over, standing up to the stumps to John Mooney, Ireland might have been able to wrest back control of the match.Just as the pressure threatened to build once more, Ervine found a brace of boundaries on the leg side off Tim Murtagh and then moved into the 90s with a clean six down the ground followed by a controlled sweep for one off Paul Stirling’s offspin. When Raza kicked his own batting into overdrive, it seemed Ervine might not reach his hundred, but he departed with 13 still needed and Elton Chigumbura left it to Ervine to take Zimbabwe home – and reach his second ODI hundred in a successful chase – with his eighth and ninth fours off John Mooney.His efforts bettered an industrious day with the bat for Ireland. They had been put in to bat by Zimbabwe in the morning, but responded in bellicose fashion. Paul Stirling weathered the early loss of his captain and opening partner in his own inimitable style, rushing into the 70s at close to a run a ball before he was trapped lbw by Raza.Niall O’Brien continued the fight with a half-century that included three huge sixes, and Gary Wilson ensured their good work was not undone as he marshaled Ireland’s charge at the death. Zimbabwe picked up regular wickets, but Wilson found even more regular boundaries as Ireland reached an imposing 268 for 7. But after an early wobble in their chase, Zimbabwe managed to stay ahead of the asking rate for most of the afternoon thanks to Ervine and a vocal home crowd cheered their moral-boosting victory.

ScorecardBrendon McCullum showed no lack of touch in his first match of New Zealand’s tour of Australia, scoring a brisk 58 on the second and final day of their game against the Cricket Australia XI in Canberra. Kane Williamson and Mark Craig also compiled half-centuries as New Zealand passed the CA XI’s total and moved along to 8 for 368 when stumps was called.There was plenty of interest in how McCullum would fare in his first innings after he rested from the Prime Minister’s XI match following his trip to London to give evidence in the Chris Cairns trial. McCullum was his usual aggressive self and struck four fours and three sixes on his way to 58 from 49 deliveries before he retired to allow his team-mates a hit.He was one of six New Zealanders to retire as most of the batsmen enjoyed some valuable time in the middle; only two wickets fell to the Australian bowlers throughout the day on a pitch offering little assistance. The tall Queensland fast bowler Billy Stanlake had Martin Guptill bowled for a duck when he shouldered arms, and Ross Taylor was caught behind off Jason Behrendorff for 16.Williamson struck 13 fours in his 68 from 80 deliveries and Hamish Rutherford retired on 41 from 89 balls. There were also contributions from BJ Watling (41), Luke Ronchi (39) and Craig, who struck seven fours and two sixes in his 60 before he was the last man to retire as the match petered out to a draw.Peter Siddle bowled with good pace at times during his 13 overs but was unable to make a breakthrough, while Ashton Agar leaked 111 runs from his 22 overs and Mitchell Marsh’s nine overs cost 60. New Zealand’s preparation will continue with a four-day game also against a Cricket Australia XI, starting in Sydney on Thursday.