Stoneman in hurry for Surrey
MARK STONEMAN celebrated his full debut for Surrey with a century as his county made a fine start to the new Division One campaign.
The left-handed opener, who switched during the winter from Durham, posted 165 as Surrey finished the first day at home against Warwickshire on 327-3.
Stoneman shared a 76-run partnership with former team-mate Scott Borthwick, who made the same move.
Stoneman has also hooked up with old Durham batting coach Michael Di Venuto following the Aussie’s appointment as head coach at the Oval.
His 17th first-class ton was the first of the season. It was followed shortly after by Gary Ballance’s 120 from 273 all out for Yorkshire that marked his first game as skipper.
Yorkshire’s total had looked under par but Ben Coad – promoted from the second team owing to injuries – gave the finest day’s bowling of his short career to rock Hampshire.
The 23-year-old took 5-18 to reduce them to 58-5.
Glamorgan gave an early signal theirs may be a long campaign when they were skittled out for 101 by Northants, who had raced into a 167-run lead by stumps.
There was also a strong start for Notts, for whom Stuart Broad and James Pattinson both took three wickets as Leicestershire were all out for 251.
Lancashire and Essex at Chelmsford, and Kent and Gloucestershire at Canterbury, were about honours even.
A WIFE beater spared prison when he told a court he had a chance to play county cricket was jailed yesterday after the claim was exposed as a lie.
Victims’ rights campaigners were furious when a judge allowed Mustafa Bashir, 33, to walk from court with a suspended sentence after being told custody would ruin his chance of playing for Leicestershire.
When his claims became public, furious bosses at the club put out a statement saying they had never heard of him and that any prospect of him gaining a contract was untrue.
Bashir had admitted beating his wife with a cricket bat, making her swallow pills, drink bleach and ordering her to kill herself.
Yesterday Judge Richard Mansell ordered Bashir back to Manchester Crown Court and jailed him for 18 months. The thug, from Middleton, Greater Manchester, was hauled back to the dock under a rule that allows judges to re-sentence offenders if new information comes to light.
Bashir, whose cricket career peaked in the Bolton League, was asked to produce proof of a job offer. He showed “emails” without “a shred of evidence”. Bashir denied ever claiming that he could turn out for Leicestershire and suggested there had been a “series of misunderstandings”.
The judge said: “You were clearly making a false claim in the hope you would avoid prison. There’s not a shred of evidence you were ever chosen to play for Leicestershire, let alone had received any offer of a contract.”
Last month Bashir gave the court a letter from a sports agent claiming that he “had a very bright future” and was given the suspended sentence. Judge Mansell made that decision on the grounds that jail would harm his burgeoning career. Yesterday the judge revoked his original order and jailed Bashir for 18 months.
Bashir could now be investigated for perverting the course of justice. Mustafa Bashir has been jailed for 18 months after his claims of a promising career in county cricket were exposed as a lie