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Luke Sutton, the Derbyshire captain, has retired from first-class cricket after revealing that he has been having treatment for depression and anxiety.Sutton captained Derbyshire for three of his six years with the club and guided them from the bottom of Division Two of the County Championship in 2010 to fifth place last season.”I have been aware for some time that I have problems with certain aspects of my mental health,” said Sutton. “I have always pushed myself to the limit but I reached a point that it was having an adverse effect on my relationships with my family and colleagues, and my health in general.”Although as a professional sportsman it is extremely embarrassing to admit to a weakness, I’m proud to have found the strength of character to seek treatment, enabling me now to feel extremely positive about my future.”Sutton, 35, also has business interests and got married in 2008. He now has a young family. “A number of other important reasons have led me to decide to retire,” he said. “In addition to concerns about my own health, my two-year-old daughter has recently been diagnosed with diabetes and the growing success and, therefore, pressure of my business has forced me to take a long look at my future.”I’ve recently undergone hand surgery which has also played its part in this decision. Upon reflection, and although a difficult decision, it is the right time to move on.”Having started his career at Somerset in 1997, Sutton played for Derbyshire from 1999 to 2005, unexpectedly becoming captain in 2004. He left for Lancashire in 2006 before returning to captain Derbyshire again last season.”I’ve had a brilliant time over my 14 years in the game,” said Sutton, who scored 7,353 first-class runs. “I have made some incredible friends. I thank each and every one of them for making it a genuinely amazing experience. In particular I’d like to thank the squad and members at Derbyshire for their great support and encouragement during my time at the club.”I have thought long and hard about this decision, and I know it is for the best of the club. I genuinely don’t feel I would be able to fulfil my position at the club to the level that I know is required. I have great affection for Derbyshire and I wish the club every success for the future.”Sutton is one a number of cricketers that have sought help for depression. Former England batsman Marcus Trescothick retired from international cricket in 2006 having experienced problems when touring abroad. Michael Yardy, the Sussex captain, took a break from cricket having flown home during the World Cup in March.Derbyshire chairman Chris Grant thanked Sutton for his efforts with the club. “Luke’s retirement was unexpected but we respect his decision. With the changes that were made at the club during the 2011 season, we appreciate it was a testing year for Luke and on a personal level I would like to thank him for his loyal support.”I speak for everybody connected with the club in saying that I wish Luke all the very best in his continued recovery and in his future endeavours,” he added. “We will be announcing Luke’s successor as club captain in the next few days and preparations for the 2012 season continue as planned.”

Richie Richardson, the West Indies manager, has said his team’s batsmen have to be positive against spin if they are to get close to India’s first-innings score of 631 for 7 at Eden Gardens. West Indies lost 16 wickets to India’s spinners R Ashwin and Prayan Ojha during their loss in Delhi and the way they handle them could be the key to avoiding another defeat.”We have to bat positively; if you are batting on a turning wicket and if you just stay in there the bowlers are going to get on top of you,” Richardson said after the second day of play in Kolkata. “You have to show intent and not just wait for bad balls as there aren’t going to be too many bad balls from India. You have got to take it to them. That is not to say you play rash shots; it’s just that you have to keep looking for ways to score runs.”West Indies lost two wickets in the 12 overs they had to negotiate at the end of the second day but Richardson remained confident his side could match India’s batting effort. He said his bowlers had not really bowled that badly and it was just the conditions that made it hard to take wickets, so there was no reason his batsmen should not post a big total.”We’ve just got to bat the way India batted. It’s a very good batting wicket. I noticed that the first day I came here. It’s not going to be easy and India’s bowlers are going to push us but I believe we have the ammunition to go out and bat for the next two days. Usually, when you think about such a big total you are going to go ‘Wow, that’s going to be difficult.’ But then you assess the situation and tell yourself we can do it too. If two guys get stuck in there and score centuries then you can bat yourselves to a very good position.”I wouldn’t say our bowling was not up to the mark. The India batsmen made full use of a very good batting track. It was always tough for our bowlers. They have bowled really well for the entire year; we haven’t let ourselves down.”Fourteen overs of play were lost due to poor light on the second day at Eden Gardens. Though the early finish might have come as a relief for West Indies who were tottering at 34 for 2, Richardson said he was in favour of using floodlights for Test cricket when needed.”I believe in using technology when it is going to assist you. When you have lights, you can use them. People want to see cricket and as a player you want to be out there as long as possible. If they have lights the only thing likely to make you come off is rain.”

Match facts

Cape Cobras v New South Wales, September 24
Start time 1600 (1030 GMT)Steyn v Watson sets the match up beautifully•Getty Images

Big Picture

This tournament has so far been about slow tracks, and even slower bowlers slowing things further down. The low scores haven’t been a product of great spin bowling – well, there has been hardly any turn – but of slowness and lowness.The state of affairs could change when the South African champions and the Australian runners-up go against each other. The clash will involve a contest between arguably the most exciting opening combination and the best pace attack. Shane Watson and Dale Steyn will duel in a much more inviting contest in Tests later this year, but this is not half bad as an appetiser. If Test cricket calls for more adjustments from Watson, Steyn will be the one trying harder to fit in in the shortest format on slow Indian tracks. David Warner and Charl Langeveldt should make it a right contest between the explosive batsmen and fast bowlers. Now if only the Chennai pitch plays ball.

Watch out for …

With Watson and Warner promising much as openers, it can be easy – and hazardous – to overlook Herschelle Gibbs. He might be out of international cricket, but along with Richard Levi – they added 88 to set up the South African domestic final win – he forms a potentially dangerous combination.With his Michael Kasprowicz-like cutters, Stuart Clark could be a handful in Indian conditions. Even in the Big Bash, he went for under six an over in the seven matches he played, taking nine wickets at 17.22.

Team news

Cape Cobras have lost Claude Henderson from the side that won the domestic final – he played for Leicestershire – but Steyn is a welcome addition.New South Wales have three spinners in their ranks – Nathan Hauritz, Steve O’Keefe and Steven Smith – which gives them ample options should the pitch be a turner. Watson is a big addition to the side that lost the Big Bash final.

Stats and trivia

• Warner has hit 304 fours and 116 sixes in Twenty20 cricket. He is ninth on on the overall six-hitters’ list, and only three men have hit more fours than him.
• This is the first time these two teams are playing each other

Quotes

“I think we are underdogs. The other teams have some players who have done exceptionally well in the last few years, but we are confident and can play good cricket.”

“The ball seems to keep low here and spin is the order of the day. We played a practice game at Chepauk and that was helpful. Since we have three good spinners in the squad, we will not be afraid to experiment.”

ScorecardMiddlesex strengthened their bid for promotion from Division Two in the County Championship by completing a ten-wicket victory over against Leicestershire 40 minutes before lunch on the final day at Lord’s.Middlesex now take over at the top of Division Two, where they will remain after the current round of matches have been completed unless Northamptonshire recover to beat Surrey. Leicestershire, meanwhile, stay rooted to the bottom and now look odds-on to claim the wooden spoon.Toby Roland-Jones picked up two of Leicestershire’s three remaining wickets to finish with figures of 4 for 64, leaving Chris Rogers and Andrew Strauss to knock off the 36 runs required for victory in less than six overs. With Leicestershire resuming on 308 for 7, Rob Taylor and Jigar Naik added a further seven, taking their eighth wicket partnership to 48, before Naik, playing a loose drive, was caught at gully off Tim Murtagh.Having earlier pulled Corey Collymore for four, Taylor picked Murtagh up over mid-wicket for six. But in the ninth over of the day Nathan Buck, driving, was caught behind off the toe-end of his bat. Roland-Jones also accounted for Taylor, who was bowled off a thick inside edge within touching distance of his second championship half-century in as many matches. Taylor’s entertaining innings of 49 from 75 balls had included six fours and two sixes.Middlesex’s seventh win of the season saw them claim the maximum 24 points, while, for the first time this season, Leicestershire went away from the contest with no points.

Mansur Ali Khan Pataudi, who overcame an impaired eye to become a visionary and pioneering captain of the Indian Test team, has died in Dehli at the age of 70. He was suffering from idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis, a lung infection for which there is no cure. He is survived by his wife Sharmila Tagore, his son Saif Ali Khan and his two daughters Soha and Saba Ali Khan. Tagore, Saif and Soha are prominent actors in India’s film industry.

Pataudi’s career timeline

December 13, 1961: Makes debut against England in Delhi, scores 13.
January 10, 1962: Scores maiden century in his third Test, 113 against England in Chennai.
March 23, 1962: Leads India in his fourth Test, in Barbados, and at 21 is Test cricket’s youngest captain.
February 12-13, 1964: Makes career-best score, 203 not out against England in Delhi.
February-March 1968: Leads India to their first overseas Test in, in Dunedin. India go on to win an away series for the first time, beating New Zealand 3-1.
January 23, 1975: Plays his final Test, scoring 9 in each innings against West Indies in Mumbai.

Pataudi played 46 Tests between 1961 and 1975 and was arguably India’s greatest captain. He was given the leadership in his fourth Test, when he was 21, in Barbados in 1962, because the regular captain Nari Contractor was in hospital after getting hit on the head by Charlie Griffith. Pataudi was the youngest Test captain, a record that stood until 2004. He led India in 40 Tests and had a successful career despite impaired vision in his right eye, which was damaged in a car accident. He also captained Sussex and Oxford University.India won nine Tests under Pataudi and it was during his tenure that the team began to believe it could succeed. He advocated the multi-spinner strategy because he believed India needed to play to their strengths and used it to achieve their first overseas Test win, in Dunedin in 1968. India went on to record their first away series victory, beating New Zealand 3-1. Pataudi was the Cricketer of the Year that year.Pataudi scored 2793 runs at an average of 35 and made six centuries, the biggest of which was an unbeaten 203 against England in Delhi in 1964. However, many rate his 75, scored on one leg with one eye, against Australia in Melbourne in 1967-68 as his finest. Pataudi retired in 1975 after West Indies’ tour of India. After retirement, Pataudi served as a match referee between 1993 and 1996, officiating in two Tests and ten ODIs, but largely stayed away from cricket administration.Pataudi was the ninth and last Nawab of Pataudi until 1971, when the Indian government abolished royal entitlements through the 26th Amendment to the Constitution.He was also the editor of , the now defunct cricket magazine, and a television commentator in the 1980s but gradually withdrew from an active role, though he remained a strong voice in Indian cricket.Since 2007, bilateral Test series between India and England have been contested for the Pataudi Trophy, named after his family for their contribution to Anglo-Indian cricket. Pataudi’s father, Iftikhar Ali Khan, represented both England and India in Tests. Pataudi had taken ill since his return from England this summer after presenting the Pataudi Trophy to Andrew Strauss at the end of the four-Test series.Pataudi was also a consultant to the BCCI from 2007 and part of the first IPL governing council but refused to continue in the role in October 2010, when the BCCI made significant changes to the league following the sacking of Lalit Modi as its chairman. As the spate of controversies increased, Pataudi was the only member of the governing council to admit the body’s culpability, saying it “failed in its role to monitor the IPL’s administration and be more questioning of decisions taken.” In an forceful speech at the 2010 Raj Singh Dungarpur memorial lecture at the Cricket Club of India, Pataudi had said it was the duty of the BCCI to take moral leadership of the game.In April this year, Pataudi also took the BCCI to court in April this year, claiming the board had not abided by its contract with him while he was a consultant as well as a member of the IPL governing council.At the opening ceremony of the 2011 Champions League Twenty20 today, Ravi Shastri called for a minute of silence in honour of Pataudi.

It is more than likely that Virender Sehwag has played his last innings on the England tour. It is understood that Sehwag has not completely recovered from the shoulder surgery he underwent immediately after the IPL in May. Sehwag, who struggled to make any impact in the two Tests matches he played, had a quiet word with the two on-tour national selectors – Narendra Hirwani and Surendra Bhave – and the team management, and the decision was then conveyed to the BCCI top brass. In the end Sehwag got the permission.”The shoulder injury has not completely healed. He will return after the Test series,” a BCCI source told ESPNcricinfo. In addition to the shoulder injury, Sehwag has also been suffering from hearing problems in his left ear, after being exposed to a loud sound on July 24, according to the note sent by the National Cricket Academy physiotherapist Nitin Patel to the tour physio Ashish Kaushik when the opener joined the squad for the tour match in Northampton. “Sehwag has some visual and balancing problems, which persist,” the source added.Interestingly, after the first day’s play at The Oval, Anirudh Chaudhary, Indian manager for the Test leg, categorically denied the rumours that Sehwag had asked the team management if he could head back home.It would be difficult to surmise if the injury played a role in Sehwag’s poor tour which began with a king pair at Edgbaston. He followed that up by lasting just five deliveries in the first innings of the final Test before being bowled through the gate by a Graeme Swann offbreak in the second innings. He made 41 runs in four innings.Embarrassingly for the BCCI, this is the second case of a half-fit Indian player being rushed in for this important tour. Earlier Zaheer Khan, India’s strike bowler, was ruled out of the series at the halfway stage, due to a “recurring hamstring injury and right-ankle impingement” according to the statement issued on August 7 by the team manager. Zaheer had originally picked up the ankle injury during the IPL and, both he and Sehwag had been rested for the subsequent Caribbean tour.When the selectors named the squad for the Test leg of the England tour in early July, they announced a 17-member party, stating that Sehwag would join the tour a fortnight later as he was been given extra time to recover completely from the shoulder surgery. Unfortunately for the BCCI, Sehwag did not recover as expected and someone would have to answer some tough questions.Meanwhile the selectors have not yet name Sehwag’s replacement and are likely to make the announcement early next week.