Peter Siddle and Clint McKay will have their final chances to impress Australia’s Test selectors when they face New South Wales in the Sheffield Shield

ESPNcricinfo staff08-Nov-2010Victoria’s Peter Siddle and Clint McKay will have their final chances to impress Australia’s Test selectors before the Ashes when they face New South Wales in the Sheffield Shield at the SCG from Wednesday. The Test squad is due to be named on November 15, two days before another round of first-class matches, so players on both sides will be keen to show their worth.Siddle has been strong but not overly successful since returning from back stress fractures, while McKay is in form after collecting 5 for 33 in Australia’s ODI win on Sunday. McKay, who has played one Test, isn’t expecting to be in the first Ashes squad, but there are enough injury doubts around players like Doug Bollinger and Ryan Harris that he is an outside chance of sneaking in.”At the moment I wouldn’t have thought so,” he said of being chosen. “I haven’t been in the last two Test squads, I don’t think it’s going to change there … With the Shield game against New South Wales, I just have to continue to bowl well and try to do the best I can.”Cameron White and John Hastings, the state’s other one-day players, will join McKay and Siddle in the side to face the Blues. Jon Holland, the left-arm spinner, replaces Bryce McGain, while Will Sheridan and Damien Wright have been dropped. Victoria have six Shield points, while New South Wales are on top with 12 from two outright wins.Victoria squad Aaron Finch, Robert Quiney, Michael Hill, David Hussey, Cameron White (capt), Andrew McDonald, Matthew Wade (wk), John Hastings, Clint McKay, Darren Pattinson, Peter Siddle, Jon Holland.

Lewis Gregory of Somerset will captain England Under-19s on their tour of Sri Lanka in January which comprises two Tests and five one-day internationals

ESPNcricinfo staff30-Nov-2010Lewis Gregory of Somerset will captain England Under-19s on their tour of Sri Lanka in January which comprises two Tests and five one-day internationals.Gregory is one of six members of the squad who represented the U-19s in the home series against Sri Lanka lasts summer along with Adam Ball, Daniel Bell-Drummond, Matthew Dunn, Ateeq Javid and Adam Rossington.Tim Boon, the England development programme head coach, said: “We have selected a balanced squad with a combination of players with U-19 and first-class experience as well as younger players. This tour provides an excellent opportunity for the players to test themselves in different conditions and against tough opposition and develop many of the skills needed to thrive in international cricket.”Squad Lewis Gregory (capt, Somerset) Adam Ball (Kent), Daniel Bell-Drummond (Kent), Christian Davis (Northamptonshire), Matthew Dunn (Surrey), Ben Foakes (Essex), Ateeq Javid (Warwickshire), Tymal Mills (Essex), Tom Milnes (Warwickshire), Jack Parsons (Sussex), Gurman Randhawa (Yorkshire), Adam Rossington (Middlesex), Andrew Salter (Glamorgan), Jack Sheppard (Hampshire), Rammi Singh (Durham), Shiv Thakor (Leicestershire), Sam Wood (Nottinghamshire)

The debutant Michael Neser enjoyed his opening day of first-class cricket, collecting four wickets as Western Australia’s batsmen failed to make use of their starts at the Gabba

ESPNcricinfo staff10-Dec-2010
ScorecardThe debutant Michael Neser enjoyed his opening day of first-class cricket, collecting four wickets as Western Australia’s batsmen failed to make use of their starts at the Gabba. The Warriors reached 8 for 279 at stumps, with David Bandy unbeaten on 40 and Australia’s Test bolter Michael Beer at the crease on 4.The South African-born Neser, who moved to Australia at the age of 10, finished the day with 4 for 42. His haul included the key wickets of the in-form Shaun Marsh, who was caught and bowled when he skied a pull on 20, and the Warriors captain Adam Voges, who was caught behind for 4.Neser also removed the openers, Wes Robinson for 49 and Liam Davis for 56, after the visitors made a solid start having chosen to bat. Bandy and Luke Ronchi, who made 68, helped Western Australia put on some lower-order runs, but two late wickets from Chris Swan gave Queensland some momentum heading in to the second morning.

Batsman Ian Billcliff is the only notable omission from Canada’s preliminary 30-man squad for the 2011 World Cup

ESPNcricinfo staff24-Dec-2010Batsman Ian Billcliff is the only notable omission from Canada’s preliminary 30-man squad for the 2011 World Cup. Ashish Bagai has been named captain and the squad also includes veteran allrounder John Davison who has been actively involved with Cricket Australia as a spin bowling coach.Chris James, the chairman of selectors, said it was a tough decision to omit Billcliff, who has played 19 ODIs for Canada averaging just under 28, including three games during the 2007 World Cup in West Indies. “It was an especially difficult decision for us when it came down to Billy (Billcliff). Internationally, he has been one of our top-rated performers. Unfortunately we were unable to line up our schedules with the preparation tours and we had to leave him out.”Canada have just completed a short tour of India where they played against several sides. They next head to the West Indies for the Caribbean T20 in January where they will also play a few 50-over matches against Antigua and Somerset.”We are confident that we have found the right mix of youth and experience to represent Canada at the World Cup and build a solid foundation for the future of Canadian cricket,” James said.The final 15-man World Cup line-up will be named after their participation in the Caribbean T20 tournament.Canada squad: Ashish Bagai (capt), Waleed Ahmad, Manny Aulakh, Akshay Bagai, Harvir Baidwan, Trevin Bastiampillai, Umar Bhatti, Grant Broadhurst, Rizwan Cheema, Khurram Chohan, John Davison, Parth Desai, Jeremy Gordon, Tyson Gordon, Ruvindu Gunasekera, Amabhir Hansra,
Sandeep Jyoti, Nitish Kumar, Usman Limbada, Henry Osinde, Hiral Patel, Cecil Pervez,
Balaji Rao, Manrick Singh, Junaid Siddiqui, Zeeshan Siddiqui, Zubin Surkari, Hamza Tariq, Karl Whatham, Zameer Zaheer

The Sinhalese Sports Club (SSC) in Columbo will host the two World Cup 2011 warm-up matches that had been scheduled to take place at Pallekele in Sri Lanka

ESPNcricinfo staff10-Feb-2011The Sinhalese Sports Club (SSC) in Columbo will host the two World Cup 2011 warm-up matches that had been scheduled to take place at Pallekele in Sri Lanka. The ICC said in a statement that it had also considered Hambantota as an alternate venue, but heavy rain in the southern Sri Lankan region ruled out that option.The two games, Sri Lanka versus the Netherlands on February 12, and Kenya versus the Netherlands on February 15, will be day games. This does not affect the three tournament fixtures scheduled to take place at Pallekele in March.The decision to move the games from Pallekele was made following a recommendation by ICC pitch consultant Andy Atkinson after he inspected the venue on Wednesday. Heavy rain in the region had affected the preparation of the pitches.

Australia and New Zealand have made the unusual decision to compete for the Chappell-Hadlee Trophy during their World Cup match in Nagpur on Friday

Brydon Coverdale23-Feb-2011Australia and New Zealand have made the unusual decision to compete for the Chappell-Hadlee Trophy during their World Cup match in Nagpur on Friday. Previously, the prize has only ever been up for grabs during bilateral series, always of at least three games, but this was the only chance for the teams to meet during the 2010-11 season.The New Zealanders should be happy with the move, as they have beaten Australia in nine of 21 Chappell-Hadlee matches, but have lost all 12 of the other ODIs the teams have played during the same period. The trophy has been contested every season since it began in 2004-05, and is currently held by Australia after they won 3-2 in New Zealand last March.There was already plenty to play for in Friday’s match, with both teams pushing to finish as high as they can in their World Cup group, in the hope of meeting a weaker quarter-finalist. Ian Chappell and Dayle Hadlee will both be in Nagpur for the clash, so both families honoured by the prize will be represented when the trophy is handed to the winning captain.”The trans-Tasman rivalry is revered by New Zealand fans and we are pleased the Black Caps get the chance to compete for the trophy this season,” New Zealand Cricket’s chief executive Justin Vaughan said. “This is a truly unique occasion with the two sides unlikely to compete for the Chappell-Hadlee trophy in India again.”Cricket Australia’s chief executive, James Sutherland, said: “I’m delighted the teams will have a chance to compete for this great trophy, which underpins the trans-Tasman rivalry in the one-day game. There is plenty at stake in this game.”New Zealand have not won the trophy since 2006-07, when Michael Hussey captained a weakened Australian side in the lead-up to the 2007 World Cup and went down 3-0. However, the sides shared the honours in 2008-09 when they drew 2-2 in Australia, before Ricky Ponting’s men narrowly got home last year.

Dinesh Tandon, chairman of the Hong Kong Cricket Association, has dismissed suggestions anything untoward occurred during the 2010 Hong Kong Sixes tournament

ESPNcricinfo staff19-Apr-2011Dinesh Tandon, chairman of the Hong Kong Cricket Association, has dismissed suggestions anything untoward occurred during the 2010 Hong Kong Sixes tournament.Heath Mills, the New Zealand Players’ Association CEO, had confirmed reports which claimed New Zealand players reported a suspicious approach at the tournament, but Tandon was confident nothing untoward had happened.We have been made aware by the ICC that an incident happened and we are investigating it further,” Tandon told the . “But I can assure you that there has been no instance of match-fixing or spot-fixing.”Members of the New Zealand side, which included Daryl Tuffey, Nathan McCullum and Scott Styris, dined with a man in Hong Kong who introduced himself as a Middle Eastern diamond dealer, but grew uncomfortable when he began offering them products. They reported the interaction to the team manager Steve Wilkins, who in turn informed NZC, and the players were subsequently interviewed by the ICC’s anti-corruption unit.”The Hong Kong Sixes aren’t the usual bilateral series or an ICC event, these sorts of events that do take place that are festivals if you like,” Mills had told ESPNcricinfo. “Obviously if there isn’t an ICC anti-corruption official there to police it, a lot of the protocols aren’t going to be followed.”But Tandon said, from their end, the tournament organisers had followed all necessary protocols. “We have strictly adhered to ICC guidelines on corruption and I’m confident nothing happened.”

Historically, New Zealand have the edge over South Africa in World Cups, but South Africa are a team transformed in this tournament and New Zealand have been inconsistent

The Preview by Liam Brickhill24-Mar-2011

Match Facts

March 25, Dhaka

Start time 1430 hours (0830 GMT)Imran Tahir has been a revelation for South Africa in this tournament•AFP

The Big Picture

Like the ghost of World Cups past, New Zealand have visited South Africa’s campaigns in every tournament since 1992. Each time they have been clear underdogs against a team with a fabled dedication to clinical professionalism, but more often than not they reminded the South African scrooges of the frailty of a rigid formula. The timbre of those reminders has rung with increasing insistence, and when their paths crossed in 2003 and 2007, New Zealand were clear winners.The lesson has been learned, and this time South Africa’s progress has been notable for its break from the formulaic approaches of the past. In Imran Tahir they’ve found the final component in a team of near-perfect balance, and have shown a refreshing willingness to adapt as opposition or conditions demand. They have two of the best fast bowlers in the world, but both Robin Peterson and Johan Botha have opened the bowling at different stages.But while South Africa’s approach may have changed, there is a familiar look to their results from the group stages. West Indies, Netherlands and Bangladesh were dispatched with consummate ease. The loss to England may have raised old fears about the ‘C’ word, but that defeat never threatened South Africa’s march to the second round and they immediately shrugged off the ‘chokers’ tag (a phrase that seems to be focussed on more obsessively in the media than it is by anyone in South Africa’s camp) with a thrilling, last-over win against India.How could New Zealand, who floundered against Australia and Sri Lanka and made the quarter-finals thanks mainly to a meltdown that only Pakistan could have delivered, possibly hope to derail the mighty South Africans? Outgunned with both bat and ball, and struggling with injuries, they will have to resort to the sort of scrapping, street-wise cricket for which their previous World Cup campaigns have been renowned. A transformed South Africa are determined to correct the mistakes of the past, but the return of Daniel Vettori will inspire New Zealand and this match could well be won by whichever team is better able to maintain temperament and composure.

Form guide

(completed matches, most recent first)
New Zealand LWWWL

South Africa WWWLW

Watch out for…

Imran Tahir may not be South Africa’s leading wicket-taker in the tournament so far – that title belongs, surprisingly, to Robin Peterson – but his inclusion is symbolic of South Africa’s new approach to limited-overs cricket. He’s also their first attacking wrist spinner in a cricketing generation, and should find conditions in Mirpur to his liking. If New Zealand’s top order can survive the early onslaught from Dale Steyn and Morne Morkel, Graeme Smith will turn to Tahir, confident in his ability to pick up cheap wickets with a variety of legspinners, sliders and wrong ‘uns.
New Zealand have a couple of limited-overs stars in their ranks, such as Brendon McCullum and Jesse Ryder, but their strength as a team is their potential to gel and become more than the sum of their parts. Their captain, Daniel Vettori, is the vital ingredient in that formula. Whether with bat, ball or in the field, Vettori seems to inspire by his very presence and as a seasoned cricketer he won’t be intimidated by South Africa. There have been hints that Vettori could give up ODIs after this tournament, giving him an added incentive to go out on a high.

Team news

South Africa gave away nothing in terms of likely selections or injury troubles in the lead-up to the game, and there’s been no word on whether or not AB de Villiers has recovered from injury. Given the importance of the match, it’s likely he will play even if not fully fit, and perhaps not be asked to keep wicket. That means wicketkeeper Morne van Wyk will keep his place in the XI, possibly at Faf du Plessis’s expense. With Dale Steyn and Morne Morkel slotting back in in place of Lonwabo Tsotsobe and Wayne Parnell, South Africa will probably fill the remaining slots with their three spinners.South Africa (probable): 1 Graeme Smith (capt), 2 Hashim Amla, 3 Jacques Kallis, 4 AB de Villiers, 5 JP Duminy, 6 Morne van Wyk (wk), 7 Johan Botha, 8 Robin Peterson, 9 Dale Steyn, 10 Morne Morkel, 11 Imran TahirBrendon McCullum has apparently recovered from a painful knee, and Vettori is also set to return. New Zealand have been affected by several injuries in this tournament, with Kyle Mills suffering a quad strain and Hamish Bennett’s tournament ended by an injury to his ankle and Achilles tendon. Daryl Tuffey has been called up as cover, but if Mills is fit he’ll be the first choice to partner Tim Southee with the new ball.New Zealand (probable): 1 Brendon McCullum (wk), 2 Martin Guptill, 3 Jesse Ryder, 4 Ross Taylor, 5 Kane Williamson, 6 Scott Styris, 7 Jacob Oram, 8 Nathan McCullum, 9 Daniel Vettori (capt), 10 Tim Southee, 11 Kyle Mills..

Both teams will know just what to expect from the Mirpur wicket, and although Graeme Smith said that he was surprised by the amount of grass on the track, it should still play on the slow, low side and aid spinners. Hot and humid weather is expected, and so dew could come into play if evening is cloudless, although its impact should be minimal.

Stats and trivia

• South Africa and New Zealand have met 51 times in ODIs, with South Africa winning 30 to New Zealand’s 17. Four of their matches have ended with no result. In World Cups, however, New Zealand have won three of the five matches the teams have played, and prevailed in both 2003 and 2007.
• Jacques Kallis has more runs against New Zealand in ODIs than any other South African, having scored 1385 at 41.96, including three hundreds and nine fifties in 42 matches.
• Tim Southee is New Zealand’s leading wicket-taker in the tournament, with 14 scalps at 15.07. Ross Taylor leads their run-scoring table, with 245 at an average of 81.66 and a strike rate of exactly a-run-a-ball.

Quotes

“There are so many South Africans all around the world that if we stress about that we won’t sleep at night. Things have changed a lot since Allan Donald was in the side.”

“I don’t have any form because I haven’t played.”

A round-up of the second match day of the Women’s Quadrangular Series in Sri Lanka

ESPNcricinfo staff28-Apr-2011It was another disappointing day at the Women’s Quadrangular Series in Sri Lanka, as all four teams scheduled to play had to settle for a point each as neither of the two matches in Colombo could be completed because of the weather. The only highlight of the day was Chamari Atapattu becoming the first Sri Lankan woman to score a century in one-day cricket. Rain has affected the whole series, with the Twenty20 matches and the first round of matches in the one-day series all being shortened.On Thursday, the game between Netherlands women and Pakistan women was reduced to a 20-over match but still there could be no play after Netherlands’ innings. The other match between Sri Lanka women and Ireland women was abandoned after Sri Lanka played their shortened innings of 48 overs.At the Nondescripts Cricket Ground Netherlands women were put in to bat and only managed to get to 68 for 6 in their allotted 20 overs. However, Pakistan women never got a chance to start their chase.Sri Lanka women reached 251 for 5 against Ireland women at the P Sara Oval, thanks to Atapattu’s 111 off 110 balls. Atapattu’s score was 23 runs more than the previous highest score by a Sri Lankan woman.

Yorkshire’s prospects of escaping with a draw against Lancashire were advanced substantially by a rain interruption that eventually spanned more than three and a half hours

Jon Culley at Aigburth20-May-2011
Scorecard
Yorkshire were not ready to countenance another batting performance with the shortcomings of their first innings here but their prospects of escaping with a draw were advanced substantially nonetheless by a rain interruption that eventually spanned more than three and a half hours.Two down for 85 in the second innings when a heavy shower heralded the frustratingly long stoppage, they added a further 41 runs in 50 minutes after play restarted at 5.40pm without further loss and will need to add another 57 to make Lancashire bat again on the final day.Joe Sayers completed his second half-century of the match and Andrew Gale is three runs away from following suit. With the pitch taking spin, Lancashire had Steven Croft bowling offbreaks in support of Gary Keedy and might wish they had stuck with Simon Kerrigan after his match-winning performance at Edgbaston. Then again, with Jimmy Anderson itching for a big send-off ahead of next week’s first Test, Lancashire will expect their seamers to inflict some damage on the final morning.It had taken only 11 deliveries for Lancashire to lose their last two wickets as the day began in relatively pleasant weather, albeit a good 10 degrees cooler than the balmy days of late April when Somerset were beaten here.Steve Patterson, whose form has been patchy but who looked somewhere near his best in this match, had Luke Procter leg before with his first ball of the morning as the left-hander tried to work the ball to leg and uprooted Gary Keedy’s off stump four balls later. The 6ft 4ins seamer finished with 4 for 51 from 24.5 overs, which will advance his claims for a regular place in the side as Yorkshire seek to settle on their best attack.Nonetheless, Lancashire’s lead of 188 on a pitch that has generally played slow and low would have left Yorkshire with a lot to do to escape with a draw had the forecast of passing showers not proved somewhat optimistic.When umpires Neil Bainton and Richard Illingworth ushered the players off just after two o’clock it was expected to be only a brief interruption but a scheduled restart at five past three had to be knocked on the head and every hint of brightening skies seemed to prompt another intense burst.Even so, Yorkshire will still have something to do on the last day against a Lancashire attack that seems more than capable of setting up a fourth win in five matches and a first home win over their cross-Pennine rivals since 2000.Anderson, who will not play again in the Championship after this match until at least late in the season (and only then, perhaps, if he is not recalled for England’s one-day team), looked as motivated as ever to make his contribution meaningful. After one fevered appeal for a caught behind off a short ball to Joe Sayers was turned down, Anderson’s follow-through ended with him eyeball-to-eyeball with the batsman, presumably asking him to reflect on his good fortune.It did not impress Sayers, who is little by little reacquiring the characteristic stubbornness that made him such a doughty opponent before he was laid low by illness last year. Anderson has found as much life in this pitch as anyone and was unlucky to be wicketless after bowling seven consistently challenging overs before the rain came.The wickets instead went to Chapple, who upped the pressure on the Yorkshire batsmen by not conceding a run until his seventh over, and Farveez Maharoof.Chapple struck in his fourth over with a ball that stopped on Adam Lyth enough to induce a tame return catch from the left-hander, who is struggling to match the form he enjoyed in the early part of last season, when he went close to the coveted feat of scoring 1,000 first-class runs by the end of May.His return thus far this season has been a paltry 283, even taking three half-centuries into account. He has been dismissed in single figures in five of his last seven innings, although talk of his being dropped is premature.Yorkshire need his quality, especially now that the loss of Jacques Rudolph is being felt. Joe Root, the 20-year-old from Sheffield, has made a good impression every time he has played but it is on the shoulders of Lyth, Sayers and Andrew Gale that responsibility lies, and with Anthony McGrath when he regains his fitness.Root fell to Maharoof, in two minds about whether to go forward or back to a ball that kept a touch low. Apart from the moment that Anderson thought he had found an edge or a glove, when he had scored only one, Sayers has looked solid. With no Jonny Bairstow or Gerard Brophy to come, he and Gale hold the key to Yorkshire’s survival.