All posts by csb10.top

The Sri Lankan selectors have recalled Rangana Herath, the left-arm spinner,in place of Kumar Dharmasena for the second Test against Australia which begins at Kandy on Tuesday.Herath, now 26-years-old, last played for Sri Lanka against Pakistan in June2000. He has played three Test matches, including two Tests against Australia on their 1999 tour to Sri Lanka.Sri Lanka are expected to abandon their one pace bowler strategy on a pitch that is expected to offer greater assistance to the fast bowlers. Nuwan Zoysa is tipped for a return after his impressive performances during the recent one-day series.Sri Lanka have also drafted in Saman Jayantha, the uncapped opening batsman,as a standby for Sanath Jayasuriya and Thilan Samaraweera.Both Jayasuriya, who needed one stitch after splitting the webbing on his righthand, and Samaraweera, who tore a groin muscle in Galle, hope to be fit for the crucial Test and will try to train on Sunday afternoon after the team’s arrival in the hill-country capital.Squad1 Hashan Tillakaratne (capt), 2 Marvan Atapattu, 3 Sanath Jayasuriya, 4 Kumar Sangakkara (wk), 5 Mahela Jayawardene, 6 Thilan Samaraweera, 7 Tillakaratne Dilshan, 8 Avishka Gunawardene, 9 Chaminda Vaas, 10 Nuwan Zoysa, 11 Nuwan Kulasekara, 12 Muttiah Muralitharan, 13 Rangana Herath, 14 Upul Chandana, 15 Kaushal Lokuarachchi, 16 Saman Jayantha (standby)

Gloucestershire’s coach, Mark Alleyne, will leave the club in February, prior to his contract ending in September 2008, after the club decided it was time for a shake-up in their structure.John Light, the chairman of Gloucestershire, said: “We have come to this agreement after much deliberation. We feel that it is now time for change and time to move towards a new director of cricket. I would like publicly to thank Mark Alleyne for his massive contribution which has been greatly appreciated by everyone associated with the club. We wish him every success in the future.”Alleyne joined Gloucestershire as a 22-year-old in 1986, and went on to fill the club’s allrounder slot with great skill and aplomb. In 1999, his efforts were recognised when he was selected for his maiden ODI against Australia at Brisbane, and he went on to make 151 runs and take 10 wickets in 10 England appearances.It was at club level, however, that Alleyne really made his mark. He became the most successful captain in the Gloucestershire’s history. Between 1997 and 2005, the team won eight one-day trophies, including three successive Lord’s finals and the treble in 2000. Alleyne became player coach in 2004, then moved up to head coach upon his retirement in 2005.”I reminisce with absolute pride about the last 22 years of my life,” said Alleyne. “All spent serving Gloucestershire CCC in the best way I knew how and now it comes to an end. Exciting memories from my very first ball at the Winget Ground in Gloucester to the very last ball in 2007. Every single ball will stay with me forever and I would like to thank Gloucestershire for allowing me that wonderful opportunity.”The time was made special by the tremendous support I received from the members and supporters alike,” said Alleyne. “For that I thank you all very much, but nothing will compare with the friendships and comradeship that developed with the players and coaches over the years. Those special moments made it all so worthwhile and now I look forward to embarking on something new. For Gloucestershire, I wish them the best of luck in their new direction.”

Warren Deutrom, the CEO of the Irish Cricket Union, has hit back at reports that the game in Ireland is in crisis following a year where they will struggled to break even despite their success at the World Cup.The ICU needed a grant of £250,000 from the Irish Sports Council to stabilise it during the season after extra costs associated with the World Cup, and the predicted windfall from a series of high-profile ODIs with India and South Africa was undermined by poor weather. But Deutrom says Ireland’s difficulties are similar to those faced by other nations.”First, it is important to say that you are correct that it has been a difficult financial year for Irish cricket – that is a recognised fact and no-one disputes that,” he said. “In that regard, we are probably no different to many other small national governing bodies that struggle to make ends meet. The World Cup was certainly not a ‘cash bonanza’ as you described it, and we have experienced tough times this year.”It was a tough year financially for us, but we will get through it to the point whereby our new commercial structures will bear fruit, we will have an agreement for media rights in place, and significant monies from the ICC will flow down in 2009. These things take time, but we will get there through hard work, passion and dedication.”Deutrom added that there were a huge number of people working tirelessly to try and make Irish cricket a success. “We certainly do not claim to be perfect or infallible, but there is nothing but hard-work and passion for the sport in the ICU, whether it is the handful of employees or the army of enthusiastic volunteers who have put the sport where it is today.”And, Deutrom said, the fact that the Irish Sports Council and ICC were willing to help the ICU with its finances shows that the board has developed a sound footing which could be trusted and that people should be “applauding Irish cricket for developing these relationships to the extent whereby they are prepared to have confidence in us to manage this properly.”He pinpointed the awarding of the inaugural ICC World Twenty20 qualifiers to Belfast next year as a sign as to how highly Ireland are regarded. “ICC does not award such prestigious events to poorly-managed, inefficient administrations,” he said.In relation to the lack of a sponsor since Bank of Ireland withdrew earlier this year, Deutrom said these large negotiations take time and added that the board “are in the middle of talks with a major brand,” and as such it is at a very delicate stage and can’t be discussed in public.

Scorecard

Rakesh Solanki kept Baroda in the run at the end of the third day of their Ranji semi-final against Delhi in Indore. Solanki anchored the innings with a fine 96 but it was Yusuf Pathan who helped Baroda seize the initiative with an unbeaten 61-ball 86. Delhi, though, removed Solanki in the last over of the day to ensure that they remained in the hunt.Baroda had struggled in the first session, losing three wickets but Solanki featured in two partnerships that swung the momentum. He was involved in a 79-run stand with Shatrunjay Gaekwad before adding a further 118 runs with Yusuf, who turned on the heat in the last session.Yusuf had walked in to face the second ball of the final session and immediately chose to counterattack. He drove, cut, lofted and swept merrily in an entertaining innings that had Delhi bowlers in complete disarray. Spin or seam made no difference as he plonked the front foot forward and knived through the line. He started off by driving the legspinner Chetanya Nanda to the straight boundary before flashing Amit Bhandari twice in succession to the cover boundary. Nanda went around the wicket and aimed at the rough but Yusuf continued to attack, hitting two towering sixes over long-on and sweeping a couple to the boundary. The new ball too didn’t make any impact on him as he repeatedly drove Sumit Narwal and Parvinder Awana.But the wicket of Solanki kept Delhi in the game. It was a marginal decision as Solanki played across to a full delivery from Rajat Bhatia and it appeared to be heading down leg side. By then, though, Solanki had played a stellar part in reviving the fortunes of Baroda.He started off uncertainly, playing and missing outside off, but hit a few punchy drives to get going. As the day wore on, he got increasingly confident and the nervous pokes were replaced by confident drives and cuts. Whenever the bowlers pitched short, he pulled them for boundaries. Solanki sealed one end during the final session of the day while Yusuf went berserk to charge Baroda towards a sizeable lead. Though Solanki was given a reprieve, on 93, when he cut to gully where Aditya Jain spilled a straightforward chance but he couldn’t capitalise.But it was Gaekwad who led the repair job in the second session with an assured knock of 46. He defended compactly and showed impeccable timing while attacking. The highlight of the knock was his successive boundaries of Amit Bhandari. The bowler had hit the full length from around the wicket – a line that had proved very profitable for him on the first day – but Gaekwad stretched well forward to drive him to straight boundary before producing the shot of the day – a gorgeous cover drive. Baroda had begun to break free.Solanki too found his stride and 78 runs came in the second session before Gaekwad fell to a soft dismissal. He closed his bat a touch early to a short-of-length delivery from Awana, only to see the leading edge carry back to the bowler.The first session had seen Baroda repeat the mistakes of the first day. The bat was pushed away from the body, the feet didn’t come in line and the reading of line left a lot to be desired. Awana kept the ball in the right areas to lure the batsmen to their demise. Connor Williams drove away from the body, Satyajit Parab dragged on a loose drive to the stumps and Azharuddin Bilakhia shouldered arms to a length delivery around off stump only to lose the off stump. Baroda were still trailing by 16 runs at that point but Solanki and Gaekwad started the fightback.The next setback for Baroda came in the first ball of the final session. Nanda got one to skid on straight and had Pinal Shah playing all around it. Nanda should have had the new batsman Yusuf early with another slider but the umpire turned down a confident shout for lbw. By the end of the day, Baroda had stretched the lead to over 200 but Delhi struck in the end to leave the game tantalisingly poised.

Mohammad Khalil relates his story to that of another left-arm quick bowler of his generation: Irfan Pathan. Khalil, one of the new breed of fast bowlers in the Pakistan team, feels that he is following the same path that the Indian took before becoming Indian’s new-ball sensation.Emerging from a net session under the eyes of his coach Bob Woolmer, he says, “He (Pathan) had toured Australia where he did well, and then he cememted his place on the Pakistan tour last year. This time I did well in Australia and am now touring India. So, I too will perform well.” His demeanour suggests plentiful confidence, and he goes on to add: “Inshallah, I will do it much better.”Pathan gave notice of his talent in Australia in 2003-04. Though he took only four wickets, he showed that he had the heart of the fast bowler. He took the next step, and gave further evidence of that heart, in Pakistan, where he was the pick of the pace bowlers on either side, with 12 wickets.Khalil, then, has a job on his hands if he wants to outperform his Indian counterpart. So far the results have been good, without raising too many eyebrows. Khalil played one Test, on the fast WACA pitch at Perth, but went wicketless in his 25 overs. If his debut was subdued, he stoked a few fires in the subsequent one-day VB Series, playing three games and accounting for five victims.Interestingly, all five of his wickets were left-handers. If he gets picked for the Tests against India, he can think of at least two batsmen to aim at: Sourav Ganguly, the captain, and either Gautam Gambhir or Yuvraj Singh.Unlike his pace-bowling compatriots, this left-armer isn’t enthused by speed. He hails from the state of Punjab, and is happy to visit Mohali, whose people he feels are similar to back home. “Khoon to ek he hai [the blood is the same],” he says, as he signs autographs.

Though he doesn’t plan to break any speed barriers, Khalil can generate enough pace with his height (5ft 10ins) and physique. Watching him bowl from a short run-up in the practice nets, he has enough to keep batsmen on their toes. “I have bowled in the 140s [kph], but I would like to stick to about 136,” he says. Though he took advice from Wasim Akram, a legend and the last left-arm quick to play for Pakistan, Khalil would like to emulate the discipline of Glenn McGrath.”Look at McGrath,” he says. “He keeps on bowling around 132kph, hitting the right line and length, and look at the number of wickets that process has earned him.” Line and length appear to be imprinted on Khalil’s state of mind.He bowls off a 28-yard run, but so far, the Pakistan think-tank has only allowed him to come on as first change to the new-ball pair. But that decision could be based on the fact that he is more adept at moving the ball both ways, and reverse-swinging the old ball. Khalil also feels that the Indian wickets will suit his bowling, since they are similar to the ones he has played on in Pakistan.He injured his shoulder at the end of the Australian tour, but now reckons he is perfectly fit. “I played a two-day game for my company Pakistan Telecom and then attended the two-day camp organised by the Pakistan Cricket Board before this tour. And I felt good.” The Pakistan trainers have looked at him, and the signs are good that he would be declared fit.Pakistan will almost certainly play Naved-ul-Hasan, Mohammad Sami and Abdul Razzaq as their three main fast bowlers. As for the fourth quick, that will depend on the pitches the Indians serve up. Khalil stands a good chance at Mohali, which in the past has thrown up green surfaces.Khalil is unperturbed about his chances, but keeps polishing his strategy. He is also something of a technology buff. “My brother and another friend have an internet café and they feed me the required technical data that I require to get my wickets,” he says. When asked if he knows that some of the Indian batsmen have been susceptible to left-arm pace – Sachin Tendulkar against Pedro Collins, and Virender Sehwag against Nathan Bracken – Khalil has a wry smile on his face. “Yes, I know,” he says. “I have done my study on them.”He has his strategy organised for the Indian batsmen, and says, “Rahul Dravid, who is a matchwinner, will be a prized wicket in the Tests, and both Sehwag and Tendulkar in the one-dayers.”In the absence of Shoaib Akhtar, who is likely to return for the ODIs, Khalil knows that sizable contributions are needed. In this evolving age where fast bowlers, normally considered rabbits with the bat, are scoring gritty half-centuries, he knows that he has to do more than just bowl. Woolmer has already set him a benchmark: “Considering that he is a bowler, I would like him to bowl first and then come in handy with the bat. If he can hit sixes like Shahid Afridi, I wouldn’t mind.”So now Khalil has two roles to aspire to – the fast man who can swing it like Pathan, and a six-hitting cavalier like Afridi.

Michael Vaughan scored his third hundred of the Ashes series to put the tourists into a commanding position on the third day of the final Test. The Yorkshire opener made an unbeaten 113 as England reached an impressive 218 for two in their second innings. Earlier a typically flamboyant century from Adam Gilchrist had enabled Australia to take a first-innings lead of just one run, but the fact that Australia have to bat last on a wearing SCG pitch makes England favourites to avoid a 5-0 series whitewash.After his wonderful run in 2002 Vaughan had seen the New Year in with a duck, but he bounced back at the first opportunity with another sublime innings, studded with a six and 16 fours, to give England a 217-run lead. It was his seventh ton in the last 12 Tests and took his Ashes tally to 563 runs – the highest by an England batsman in Australia since Geoff Boycott scored 657 and John Edrich 648 on the victorious 1970-71 tour.England lost Marcus Trescothick early, chopping on to his stumps to give Brett Lee his 100th Test wicket. Vaughan then played the starring role in an 87-run partnership with Mark Butcher (34), before the Surrey left-hander was caught by Matthew Hayden at short leg, getting a glove to a spinning delivery from Stuart MacGill.Vaughan then shared an unbroken third-wicket partnership of 94 with his captain Nasser Hussain, who ended the day unbeaten on 34. Vaughan’s innings was not without good fortune; he twice edged MacGill just short of slip, and was dropped on 102 when he pulled Damien Martyn to Justin Langer at mid-wicket.After being 150 for five yesterday, Australia did remarkably well to overhaul England’s first-innings total, albeit by only one run. Resuming on 237 for five, their innings this morning was dominated by Gilchrist. He hit a brilliant 133 off just 121 balls, dominating a stand of 82 runs for the ninth wicket with Jason Gillespie.Matthew Hoggard took three wickets to give England the initiative first thing. Steve Waugh fell almost immediately, failing to add to his overnight 102 before edging a widish ball to Mark Butcher at second slip. To the delight of the Barmy Army Hoggard then took two wickets off successive balls, and almost repeated Darren Gough’s achievement in claiming a hat-trick in the corresponding Test here four years ago.Andy Bichel, who had been lucky not to be sent on his way by Russell Tiffin when he gloved Hoggard to Alec Stewart behind the stumps in the Yorkshireman’s previous over, was the first of the two to go, caught by John Crawley in the gully as he tried to cut. Lee fell to the next ball, edging a full-length delivery to Stewart, and Gillespie was within a whisker of departing to his first ball in like manner.Gilchrist rarely wastes time at the crease, so it was no surprise to see him grasp the situation by the scruff. He took 24 off his next 15 balls to put Australia within reach of England’s total, before edging Steve Harmison to Stewart. Gillespie (31*) then took his side into a one-run lead before last man Stuart MacGill holed out to Hussain at mid-on, giving Hoggard his fourth wicket of the innings.

FOLLOWING the unscheduled early conclusion to the Western Warriors Pura Cup match against Tasmania, the Western Australian Cricket Association selectors have revised the ING Cup squad for Sunday’s one-day game against the Tigers.The original 14-man squad has been reduced to 12 players for this important match at Bellerive Oval.The team is:Justin Langer (captain), Mike Hussey (vice-captain), Jo Angel, Ryan Campbell, Beau Casson, Murray Goodwin, Kade Harvey, Shaun Marsh, Chris Rogers, Callum Thorp, Brad Williams and Paul Wilson.Two members of the Pura Cup team, pace bowler Michael Clark and batsman Marcus North will return to Perth tomorrow, Friday February 7, 2003.

Middlesex 255 for 9 (Weekes 80, Joyce 59*) beat Scotland 143 (Keegan 5 for 48) by 112 runs
Scorecard
While Middlesex only had drive a few miles to the south from their headquarters at Lord’s, the Scotland team had to travel all the way down to Surrey – to play Middlesex – at Richmond. The game was held at Old Deer Park, which is better known for staging rugby matches rather than cricket. The park is the home of London Welsh, and London Scottish used to play at the Athletic Ground just round the corner, but Scotland didn’t take any home comforts away with them as they crashed to their biggest defeat of the season.After Craig Wright put Middlesex in, Paul Weekes led the way with 80 from 77 balls, including 13 fours and one six. Andy Strauss was dismissed early on, and then Weekes put on 96 with Owais Shah (19), and set up the platform for Ed Joyce to cash in with 59 not out. Majid Haq was the pick of the Scotland bowlers with 3 for 39 with his tidy offspin, but it wasn’t such a tidy performance from Colin Smith, the wicketkeeper. He fumbled a number of catches and stumpings and, bizarrely, kept with his pads underneath his trousers.Chasing 256, Scotland’s reply got off to a bad start – and went downhill from there. Chad Keegan (5 for 48) and Cook (2 for 23) struck early with none of the top five batsmen – including Rahul Dravid – managing double figures as Scotland slumped to 36 for 5. By then it was all over as a contest, but Scotland did restore some pride with a steady 20 from Wright and a rapid 33 from 14 balls late on from Paul Hoffmann.

The length bowlers go to …
India batted first on what was supposed to be a bouncy track, with cloud cover. So what did the bowlers do? They bowled short. The batsmen were hit on the head, the arm, and all over their upper torsoes. Not one wicket fell to intimidatory bowling. And when they did pitch it full, they over-compensated. As many as 84 runs came off the 70 half-volleys that were bowled.

Runs, runs everywhere
Virender Sehwag was not about to let a nagging line outside off stump stifle him. He scored 114 runs on the off side, and anything slightly close to his pads was dispatched to leg. Given the generous number of half-volleys that came his way, it was no surprise that a large number of his runs came in front of the wicket.Sehwag’s wagon wheel

His first false shot was his last
Rahul Dravid missed out on a half-century by one run, playing a loose shot off Steve Waugh straight to the fielder at midwicket, when he could have put the ball anywhere on the leg side. But until then, even by his standards, his control was exemplary.

Opening for India
Could Virender Sehwag and Akash Chopra be the opening pair India long been searching for? Their opening stand of 141 was India’s highest outside the subcontinent since 1990. Since then, India has played 21 openers, with only Ravi Shastri, Manoj Prabhakar and Navjot Sidhu achieving any degree of success. But the current combination has been exceptional, especially when one considers that this tour is their first overseas assignment together. (Note India’s average of their previous tour to Australia)India’s overseas opening performances since 1996

Rahul Bhatia is on the staff of Wisden Cricinfo.

Zimbabwe Cricket’s belief that it had nipped the festering domestic rebellion in the bud was dealt a blow with the news that the Midlands Cricket Association chairman Hemat Patel has resigned from the ZC board in support of the newly elected Mashonaland Cricket Association executive.Patel, who was elected to the ZC board as a replacement for Mike Moyo last month, said that there was a general agreement that he could not continue on the ZC board at the same time as being chairman of Midlands, given that he could not carry the mandate of his province.In an interview, Patel confirmed that he had handed in his resignation letter last Thursday: “Following a recent Midlands CA baord meeting and numerous reports circulated in various sectors of media, Hemat Patel categorically refutes claims that Midlands had or have withdrawn support for Mashonaland. The MCA will not be drawn into any conflict between ZC and any other province. The MCA will recognise any provincial board that has been elected constitutionally. In the likely event of the recent Mashonaland general meeting deemed legitimate, the MCA will work hand in hand with the new Mashonaland board.”Patel said that Midlands would not be part of any playing boycott at this stage, but agreed with Mashonaland that there were a number of outstanding issues that needed to be addressed, including the general state of cricket within Zimbabwe.”In a further development, Patel has resigned as a director of ZC with immediate effect as it was felt that as chairman of Midlands he would find it difficult to carry out the mandate of his board and remain as a director of ZC,” Patel’s statement continued. “The Midlands CA is committed to the development of cricket, and will work tirelessly to improve every facet of the game.”Midlands CA and ZC have their own outstanding issues which have not been resolved,” Patel said. “I think getting me on the ZC board might have been a way to soften my province, and by resigning from the ZC board, I am sending a clear message to them that I do not agree with their policies.”