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Hashim Amla, the South Africa batsman, says his side are prepared for anything Australia do as a reaction to their loss at Newlands

Firdose Moonda in Johannesburg14-Nov-2011Hashim Amla, the South Africa batsman, says his side are prepared for anything Australia do as a reaction to their loss at Newlands, during which Australia were bowled out for their lowest total in over 100 years. Pat Cummins, Australia’s 18-year-old fast bowler, is being tipped to play on Thursday at the Wanderers, which would make him Australia’s second-youngest Test debutant. That will surprise some in the cricketing world, who are used to Australia grooming players before putting them on the international stage, but Amla said South Africa would be ready for any changes.”One of the things we are trying to do is to prepare so we are not surprised by whatever happens,” Amla said in Johannesburg, where South Africa regrouped on Monday after a weekend off. “We’ve gone through their bowlers, and if Cummins plays, we’ve played against him in the one-dayers so it won’t be a massive surprise to us.”Cummins impressed with his control, pace and variation in the limited-overs matches, but was benched in favour of a more experienced attack for the first Test. Australia now have concerns in the bowling department, with Mitchell Johnson, who has an impressive record in South Africa, and Peter Siddle, taking just a wicket apiece in the first Test.Australia’s shocking collapse to 47 all out on the second day at Newlands has raised questions about how they will recover. But Amla does not think Australia will struggle to pick themselves up. “Matches like that probably happen once in every 500 Tests. I don’t think they will read too much into it, although it has maybe dented their confidence a little bit. They’ve got quality players – guys that have played probably three times as many Tests as I have – to bring sanity back if they have had a flutter.”Amla said the Newlands Test, which lasted three days and saw a remarkable 23 wickets fall on the second day, took its toll on both sides. “Because it was very short, it did take a lot out of the players emotionally. We had two unexpected days off, which was a nice surprise. We were on the right side of that game but the guys are looking forward to the next one.”The Wanderers Test, according to Amla, will likely be decided on which batsmen have settled into good patterns in the early season. “Every batsman has it. Some people call it rhythm, some call it form. I find batting rhythm very important.”The key to batting is partnerships, no matter who is scoring. Even if someone is finding it difficult to score and isn’t getting runs, it doesn’t matter as long as the partnership is building. At the Wanderers, if we can build partnerships it will be the key to a successful batting performance.”On a Newlands pitch on which most batsmen struggled, Amla and Graeme Smith, the South Africa captain, both scored centuries in the successful chase of 236. Amla said having the captain in form was important for the team, who bank on their experienced players to pull them out of tricky spots. “We’ve got Jacques [Kallis], Bouch [Mark Boucher] and Graeme. When things are tough and situations are a bit out of the ordinary, they rally around and give the team a lot more direction.”

Michael Clarke has conceded that Phillip Hughes may need to go back to state cricket to regain his form after another failure in the second innings of Australia’s loss to New Zealand in Hobart

Brydon Coverdale at the Bellerive Oval12-Dec-2011Michael Clarke has conceded that Phillip Hughes may need to go back to state cricket to regain his form after another failure in the second innings of Australia’s loss to New Zealand in Hobart. However, Clarke said it was unfortunate that there was no Sheffield Shield cricket scheduled until after the Test series against India ends in February, meaning Hughes will have nothing but Twenty20 in which to regain his touch.Hughes walked off the field a defeated man, his weakness outside off stump having almost certainly ended this phase of his Test career, with Shaun Marsh and Shane Watson expected to return to the side on Boxing Day against India. Hughes was caught by Martin Guptill in the cordon off the bowling of Chris Martin for the fourth time in the series. Clarke said the lack of runs for Hughes – he has scored 9, 9, 88, 11, 10, 7, 4 and 20 in his past eight Test innings – was a concern.”He’s obviously really disappointed like all the batters are, the way we played today,” Clarke said. “But Hughesy is probably the most disappointed. He’s been getting out the same way. I know he’s been working hard in the nets trying to improve that deficiency in his technique and he’ll continue to work on that. But he needs to find some runs, it’s as simple as that. If he’s not making them for Australia he’s going to have to go back and score some for New South Wales.”Besides the Big Bash League and club cricket, the only other opportunity for Hughes to score runs before the end of the Test summer will be in next week’s Cricket Australia Chairman’s XI match against the touring Indians in Canberra. In that three-day encounter, Hughes will be competing with other top-order men such as Marsh and Usman Khawaja, who are also in the side. David Warner is also set to play at Manuka Oval, but he has already pencilled in his name for the Boxing Day Test by carrying his bat for 123 not out in Hobart, almost conjuring victory for Australia from a dire position.”There is no four-day cricket now for New South Wales, unfortunately,” Clarke said. We go back and play Twenty20 cricket so, yeah, if that’s the case for somebody, people who get dropped from this team, they’re going to have to go back to Twenty20 and score some runs. I’m not sure how it’s going to work but you’re going to have to be picked back into the Australian team from the Big Bash. We’ll wait and see what happens.”The lack of first-class cricket in Australia from early December to the start of February – covering the majority of the Australian summer – was deemed necessary by Cricket Australia to allow the new eight-team BBL to flourish. When asked if he would have preferred Shield cricket during the period, Clarke was careful not to directly criticise the scheduling, but his discontent was evident.”Well, we’ve got what we’ve got,” he said. “At the end of the day let’s deal with it. My opinion is not going to change anything. It’s about scoring runs in any form of the game you play. If it’s Twenty20, score runs. If it’s one-dayers, score runs and just continue to get your name, push your name up in front of the selectors’ eyes to get selected for any form of the game. It’s what we’ve got.”Australia play four Tests against India, beginning on December 26 at the MCG, and finishing in Adelaide on January 28. The Shield season has a major hiatus from December 9 until February 2.

A round-up of the latest round of Logan Cup matches

ESPNcricinfo staff12-Jan-2012Mashonaland Eagles’ fast bowlers shot out Mountaineers for 55 in the second innings to set up a seven-wicket win at the Harare Sports Club. Tatenda Manatsa led the way with seven wickets in the game but Kyle Jarvis’ four strikes in the second innings were not far behind, as was Elton Chigumbura’s 121 that rescued Eagles from 34 for 5 in the first innings. Mark Pettini’s 55 was the top score for Mountaineers in the game but Manatsa claimed 4 for 33 to restrict them to 219 in the first innings. Shingi Masakadza ran through Eagles with a career-best 6 for 54, but Mountaineers were thwarted by Chigumbura’s century that featured 15 boundaries. Chigumbura and Jarvis added 99 after Eagles were tottering at 133 for 8. They ultimately managed to take a slender lead of 19. Manatsa struck with his second delivery in the second innings, Jarvis with the first ball of his second over, and Mountaineers crumbled in 26.3 overs to 55, never recovering from 8 for 4. Masakadza claimed more three more wickets in the small chase to make it nine victims for the match, but the target of 37 was never going to trouble Eagles.Southern Rocks did not crumble the way Mountaineers had, but their average first-innings performance was responsible for a seven-wicket loss to MidWest Rhinos at the Kwekwe Sports Club. Ed Rainsford’s five-wicket haul kept Rocks to 178 despite Hilary Matanga’s 63 and Rhinos then rode on centuries from captain Gary Ballance and Riki Wessels to post 444. Brian Vitori grabbed 5 for 90 but there was little support from the rest of the Rocks’ attack. Richmond Mutumbami’s 92 was the only score of note from the Rocks’ top order in the second innings, but Vitori stretched their innings past 300 with his highest first-class score of 71. Graeme Cremer mopped up the rest of the lower order to finish with 5 for 107 and Vitori’s dismissal brought the Rocks’ innings to an end on 313. Vitori was not done yet though. He struck twice more to have Rhinos at 6 for 3 in their chase of 48 but Malcolm Waller was around to take them home.

A round-up of matches from the Caribbean T20 on January 19

ESPNcricinfo staff20-Jan-2012Windward Islands sealed their fourth straight win in the Caribbean T20, edging past Guyana in a closely-fought, rain-affected game at the Kensington Oval in Barbados. Choosing to field, Guyana, relying on important contributions from opener Sewnarine Chattergoon (27) and captain Christopher Barnwell (32) and a late surge from Veerasammy Permaul, reached 140 for 8 in 20 overs. Darren Sammy picked up 3 for 11, excellent figures in a four-over spell. All of his wickets came in one over.Rain intervened after Windwards had reached 5 without loss in the chase, and the target was revised to 119 in 16 overs and Windwards just about managed that. Opener Johnson Charles led the way with 65, off 43 balls, striking three fours and three sixes. Charles was the third wicket to fall with the score on 88, and Windwards needed 31 off 21 balls at the time.Though Devendra Bishoo bowled economically, picking three for 15 in four overs, Devon Smith saw Windwards through, making an unbeaten 25 off 19 balls with two fours and a six. In the final over, at the fall of Shane Shillingford’s wicket, Windwards needed 3 off 3 balls and the win was sealed off the last ball of the match. Windwards are among the two decided semi-finalists.In another rain-affected match at the same venue, Trinidad and Tobago brushed aside Canada, winning by eight wickets and sealing their place in the semi-finals. Canada, after opting to bat, began in encouraging fashion, their openers Hiral Patel and Ruvindu Gunasekera adding 43 for the first wicket. But the innings fell apart after that, nine wickets falling for 56 runs. No one else, apart from the extras column, reached double-figures and Canada were kept to 99 for 9. Ravi Rampaul was the wrecker-in-chief, taking 4 for 26, and Dwayne Bravo helped him out with 3 for 20 in four overs.T&T lost Lendl Simmons early and Adrian Barath was given out obstructing the field upon deviating the wicketkeeper’s throw. Darren Bravo and Denesh Ramdin, however, ensured there were no further hiccups. Rain halted play in the 12th over and the target was revised to 91 in 18 overs. Darren Bravo top-scored with an unbeaten 42 off 41 balls and Ramdin chipped in with 30 off 27 in a 59-run stand. The win was achieved in the 16th over.

Peter Siddle has spent most of the summer helping Australia to Test wins and he kept his successful season up by bowling Victoria to victory on the third day against South Australia

ESPNcricinfo staff15-Feb-2012
ScorecardPeter Siddle collected 6 for 43•Getty ImagesPeter Siddle has spent most of the summer helping Australia to Test wins and he kept his successful season up by bowling Victoria to victory on the third day against South Australia. Siddle collected 6 for 43 from his 24 overs and his work ensured that half-centuries to Callum Ferguson, Tom Cooper and Travis Head would be in vain as the Redbacks again failed to bring up their first win of the Shield campaign.South Australia were chasing 302 and they began the day in trouble at 3 for 55, but Ferguson and Cooper compiled a strong partnership that gave the Redbacks a genuine chance. But their 134-run stand ended soon after lunch when Siddle got rid of both men, Cooper lbw for 62 and Ferguson caught behind cutting loosely outside off for 71.That left a mountain of work for the 18-year-old Head, who was playing his second first-class match and was the last of South Australia’s recognised batsmen. But after Adam Crosthwaite was bowled by Jayde Herrick for 16, Head and Chadd Sayers put together a 55-run partnership that kept the match alive until Sayers (21) was bowled by Jon Holland.The loss of Joe Mennie, who edged Siddle to slip, in the last over before the second new ball arrived hurt South Australia, who still needed 53 for victory at the time. The new ball helped Andrew McDonald get rid of Head, who top edged a pull for 57, and Siddle finished the match by trapping Peter George lbw for a duck to give Victoria a 34-run win.The success pushed Victoria up to third on the Shield table with two matches to play, but the first- and second-placed Queensland and Western Australia each have three games in hand. South Australia remain on the bottom with five losses, three draws and only two points from their eight matches.

An injury scare to Stuart Broad has overshadowed the start of England’s game against the Sri Lankan Board XI in Colombo

ESPNcricinfo staff15-Mar-2012
ScorecardKevin Pietersen attempts to keep cool in the field during England’s first warm-up game•Getty ImagesEngland’s bowlers experienced a day of mixed fortunes as they began their tour of Sri Lanka with a warm-up match against a Sri Lanka Board XI in Colombo.While Stuart Broad was forced to pull out of the game shortly before the start following an injury scare, James Anderson and Monty Panesar adapted seamlessly to the heat and humidity to share nine wickets between them and dismiss the hosts for 169 shortly after tea on the first day.Broad tripped over the boundary rope during fielding practice and sprained his left ankle. The injury is not thought to be serious and England have not, at this stage, thought it necessary to send him for a scan. Broad had been named in the England XI, but Steven Finn replaced him in the team.An ECB spokesman said: “England medical staff will review the injury overnight and Stuart will undergo ice treatment in the meantime.”Anderson, by contrast, was quickly into his stride. He claimed the first four wickets to fall, reducing the Board XI to 67 for four, and winning reward for a well-controlled spell.Panesar did not strike until his 15th over, but then produced a spell of five for 14 as the Board XI lost their last six wickets for the addition of just 37 runs, collapsing from 132 for four.”It’s nice to get some overs under my belt out there and get used to the conditions and obviously the heat,” Panesar said. It’s slightly different from UAE. I was pleased bowling a lot of maidens out here. Especially on a first day pitch you bowl slightly different as a spinner, more of a holding role and you are obviously helping the seamers as well so that they can bowl 4-5 over spells because it’s very hot.”When you are playing on a first day pitch you look to attack, you look to bowl disciplined and from there you look to take wickets. Luckily it brought a few wickets for me today. You’ve got to be disciplined with the lines but you should also not look to over attack. It’s a place where you can see a couple of balls turn quite big and you want to attack and get wickets. But they are very good attacking players so you just got to hold in there and create pressure and not get carried away if the wicket does something. You’ve got to keep everything simple.”The only meaningful resistance came during a fifth-wicket partnership of65 between Ashen Silva and Sachithra Serasinghe. Silva, a 21-year-old opener from Colombo, compiled a patient half-century before Finn induced an edge to the wicketkeeper.England gave some indication of their plans ahead of the two-Test series by selecting Ravi Bopara ahead of Samit Patel for the No. 6 position. Bopara came on as first-change bowler, but could not maintain the pressure applied by his colleagues as he struggled with over-stepping.The match is the first of two warm-up games before the Test series begins on March 26.While England will be encouraged by the performance of their bowlers, they will also be aware that it was not the bowlers who were the problem in the UAE. England succumbed to a 3-0 series defeat against Pakistan with the batsmen unable to adapt to the conditions or Pakistan’s spin attack.England’s openers faced few problems on the first day of this game.Having negotiated seven balls without any undue difficulty, bad light forced an early finish.Edited by Alan Gardner

Essex look certain to open their Division Two campaign with victory against Gloucestershire after their bowlers dominated the second day’s play at Chelmsford.

06-Apr-2012
ScorecardEssex look certain to open their Division Two campaign with victory against Gloucestershire after their bowlers dominated the second day’s play at Chelmsford.After bowling out Gloucestershire for 180 to establish a first-innings lead of 184 and enforcing the follow on, Essex reduced them to 55 for five in their second, still requiring 129 to avoid an innings defeat. Gloucestershire had no answer to a pace attack that displayed both venom and accuracy, with the ever-reliable David Masters leading the way. Masters, a few days short of his 34th birthday and following a season when he took 93 wickets, has so far picked up five more in the match.Graham Napier sent Gloucestershire on the slippery slope in their second innings in an opening spell of 3-20. Among his scalps was Richard Coughtrie, the opener, who bagged a pair, his second duck spanning 33 deliveries.Masters then nipped in for the wickets of Dan Housego and Hamish Marshall before bad light spared a possible defeat in two days, coming to their rescue with 15 overs still remaining.Gloucestershire’s first innings was also a grim affair. It was something of a surprise that they arrived at lunch on 82-2 considering the torrid time they experienced at the hands of Maurice Chambers and Masters. Both beat the bat on numerous occasions without reward, while several edges dropped just short or wide of fielders or flew over the slip cordon.In that pre-lunch session Chambers found enough swing to have Coughtrie caught low down at second slip and Tymal Mills roared in to york Chris Dent for a gutsy 38. But in the afternoon session, bowlers were completely dominant as the innings disintegrated and the remaining wickets fell before tea.Masters started the procession when he had Alex Gidman caught behind during a nine-over spell costing 18. In between, the impressive Chambers got rid of Marshall and Ian Cockbain to pave the way for the powerfully-built Mills to make further inroads.Sheer pace was his major weapon as he trapped Will Gidman leg before and forced James Fuller to play on.

Ernest Hilaire, the West Indies Cricket Board CEO, has said selectors should focus on selecting the ‘best XI’ for the West Indies team, one that was a strong collective unit rather than just comprising 11 star players

ESPNcricinfo staff06-May-2012Ernest Hilaire, the West Indies Cricket Board CEO, has said selectors should focus on selecting the ‘best XI’ for the West Indies team, one that was a strong collective unit rather than just comprising 11 star players.”For a decade or so the selectors were guided by a process which had them arriving at the eleven best players to take the field,” Hilaire said, during the Barbados Cricket Association Awards ceremony. “With the eleven best players on the park our results went from bad to worse and yet worse still.West Indies have been without the services of Chris Gayle since the 2011 World Cup, owing to his differences with the board, and Dwayne Bravo intermittently, due to his Twenty20 commitments elsewhere.”There has been a paradigm shift. The emphasis is on selecting, not necessarily the eleven best players but the ‘best eleven’. It is not dissimilar to asking whether we prefer a team of stars or a star team. They are decidedly different.”The best eleven may not include the most attractive players but is rather a combination of players who, as a group, are more likely to bring positive results and show a commitment to sustained development.”Hilaire said the West Indies team has been steadily improving and is on the right path. “Though the victories have not been tumbling in, there can be little doubt that West Indies cricket is showing the signs of learning the first characteristic of any successful enterprise – the determination to succeed.””We have seen a greater commitment to fight to the very end, we have seen what was once thumping three and four day defeats in Test cricket now turned into epic final-day battles.”This new approach is not far off from producing the results we all yearn for. Change does not happen overnight, it is a process, sometimes painful, always with mistakes and mis-steps but once on the right path the results are certain.”I implore you to recognise that from the days when our team seemed conditioned to losing we now have a team which is battling to win and believing that it can in fact achieve victories.”Australia toured West Indies recently and the hosts drew the ODI series but lost the Tests 0-2. West Indies are now in England for a full tour.

Therese Walsh, who was chief operating officer for last year’s Rugby World Cup, has been appointed to lead the New Zealand operations for the 2015 World Cup

ESPNcricinfo staff29-May-2012Therese Walsh, who was chief operating officer for last year’s Rugby World Cup, has been appointed to lead the New Zealand operations for the 2015 World Cup. Walsh, who has been a director of New Zealand Cricket since 2011, will be head of New Zealand for the tournament to be hosted jointly by Australia and New Zealand.”Therese will play a leading role across the whole tournament but pay special attention to delivery in New Zealand,” John Harnden, the World Cup CEO, said. “Our aim is to put on a fan-friendly event which reaches as many communities as possible across both countries. Therese brings great experience in sport and major events to the role and has invaluable insights from what has been recognised as the best Rugby World Cup ever.”Walsh served as the chief financial officer and general manager corporate services for the New Zealand Rugby Union before she took on the Rugby World Cup role. Walsh said she was looking forward to working across both Australia and New Zealand in the lead-up to the tournament, which will be held in February-March 2015.”This was a perfect chance to be a part of another global sporting event that is going to have a direct and positive impact not only on cricket in New Zealand but on communities, businesses and individuals,” Walsh said. “While my title is Head of New Zealand, my focus will be on creating a memorable event across both countries that will leave a legacy for years to come.”

It turned out to be a good toss to lose for Pakistan, as their seamers, led by Umar Gul, set up a comfortable six-wicket win by keeping Sri Lanka to a paltry 135

The Report by Kanishkaa Balachandran07-Jun-2012
Scorecard and ball-by-ball detailsUmar Gul was the most incisive of the Pakistan seamers with three wickets•AFPIt turned out to be a good toss to lose for Pakistan, as their seamers, led by Umar Gul, set up a comfortable six-wicket win by keeping Sri Lanka to a paltry 135. The ball nipped around, skidded, turned and bounced alarmingly and tested the technique and patience of the batsmen, with the cloudy conditions giving the bowlers an overwhelming advantage. Three rain interruptions in the first innings did little to help Sri Lanka’s cause. They struggled to build momentum and sizeable partnerships, and following a lengthy rain interruption, the overs were culled to 42, leaving very few overs in the end to accelerate.Pakistan too were tested by a probing opening spell by Sri Lanka’s seamers, but they could afford to take their time and grind it out. Subcontinent pitches aren’t known to produce too many low-scoring games, and based on the evidence so far in the three games on tour, watching the bowlers have a say has been compelling.Runs off the bat were at a premium as Sri Lanka’s top four failed to reach double-digits and their combined contribution was outscored by extras. It was a struggle, not just to pick the gaps but to put bat on ball. Sohail Tanvir’s angle away from the right-hander kept Mahela Jayawardene playing and missing; Gul’s bounce off a good length and incutters troubled Tillakaratne Dilshan, who looked like he hadn’t yet shrugged off the Twenty20 hangover.It was a battle of attrition at both ends. Sri Lanka had two of their most experienced accumulators at the crease – Jayawardene and Kumar Sangakkara – but the seamers found ways to avert a partnership. An indipper from Gul trapped Jayawardene lbw, before Dinesh Chandimal chopped one onto his stumps without using his feet.The batsmen may have had their wallets nicked when they walked out to bat – they couldn’t even buy a run. In the first ten overs, Pakistan didn’t concede a run off the bat for 26 consecutive legal deliveries. In that period, the only source of runs was 13 wides. The first boundary off the bat – there were only six in all – came in the 12th over. Any semblance of a recovery was halted when Mohammad Sami nipped out two wickets in successive overs, leaving Sri Lanka five down at the 15th over.Rain forced interruptions in the 18th over and again after the 24th. What followed after the second interruption were two of the most productive partnerships. Lahiru Thirimanne added 25 with Thisara Perera, and doubled that with Nuwan Kulasekara. It was still a battle for survival, and the frequent interruptions didn’t help Sri Lanka’s bid to find momentum to accelerate. Following the third rain interval, which stretched to an hour and a quarter, Sri Lanka had only five overs to bat out. Thirimanne slogged and swished at several deliveries and managed to fetch three boundaries, including one off the final ball. Subtracting the wides, Sri Lanka would have been defending a much lesser score.Sri Lanka managed only six fours in their innings, hitting the first only in the 12th over. Pakistan hit their first four as early as the third ball, when Mohammad Hafeez punched Lasith Malinga past the covers. Malinga soon had Azhar Ali caught off a loose drive, and he continued to create half chances by shaping the ball away from the right-handers. Kulasekara posed questions by getting the ball to cut back in – his stock delivery – and one of those breached Younis Khan’s defences, leaving Pakistan at 27 for 2.The pressure created by that dismissal led to three consecutive maidens. Misbah-ul-Haq halted a run-drought that lasted 25 deliveries with a slash past point for four. While Hafeez gave Pakistan the edge with positive shots, including a lofted off-drive for six, what prevented Pakistan from imploding was Misbah’s calm presence.Pakistan were a batsman short, so it was imperative one senior player pitched a tent through the duration of the innings, which Misbah had all but achieved. It was a pressure-free scenario for Umar Akmal to play his strokes, as Pakistan coasted home to extend their recent domination over Sri Lanka, with their ninth win in 11 games.