All posts by n8rngtd.top

Rain forced the final one-day international at Durban to be abandoned and handed England their first limited-overs series victory in South Africa

The Bulletin by Andrew McGlashan04-Dec-2009
Scorecard and ball-by-ball detailsAndrew Strauss gets his hands on the one-day series trophy after rain washed out the final match•Getty Images

It’s not how Andrew Strauss would have wanted to lead England to a bit of history, but he’ll gladly take it after rain forced the final one-day international at Durban to be abandoned and handed the tourists their first limited-overs series victory in South Africa.There was never a realistic chance of any action at Kingsmead. Hopes were briefly raised when the covers were removed at around 2.30pm, but the forecast rain soon returned to blanket the city in the dank, grey atmosphere that has been in place for most of the past week.As well as their first one-day success in the country, England have also become just the second team to beat South Africa on home soil in a bilateral one-day series after Australia managed it twice. That is a notable achievement for Strauss and Andy Flower considering that a little over two months ago they were turned over 6-1 by Australia.”It’s a big step forward for the group,” Strauss said. “To be only the second team to win out here is an achievement to be proud of. The players had to buy into trying to play a slightly more attacking brand of cricket and at the same time to up our fielding and to be more consistent with the ball.”I think the guys have enjoyed having the shackles taken off them to a certain extent. A lot of our one-day cricket over the last few years has been played like men under a lot of pressure. A lot of the players were under pressure, playing for their places and because the results weren’t very good.”It’s encouraging to know we are going in the right direction but I’d be the last person to say we’re the finished article.”The turnaround began at the Champions Trophy and has continued over the last three weeks. Playing in South Africa suits England’s new brand of one-day cricket and their next challenge in that format be to adapt to different conditions in Bangladesh in February. They are unlikely to find pitches with pace and bounce at the World Cup in 2011 so the next phase of their development is to show they can combat spin attacks of sluggish, turning pitches.Even though only three matches were actually played, this series success can still go down as one of England’s finest one-day performances in recent times, on a par with beating Sri Lanka in their backyard in 2008. At Cape Town they showed they still have the capability to pull out a shocker, but to cancel out that 112-run defeat, both their victories were by convincing seven-wicket margins – a run-chase of 251 that would previously have been beyond them at Centurion, and a victory set up by James Anderson’s bowling at Port Elizabeth.England’s 4-0 victory against South Africa at home last year is often pulled out when talking about impressive performances, but that was against a visiting side that had achieved their main target of a Test series victory and were ready to go home. This time there were early points to be scored – that’s the advantage of holding the one-dayers first – and England have done more than enough to quieten the hosts who were quite happy to make some bombastic statements in the build-up. The hosts certainly haven’t lived up to the hype.”Our next one-day series is in India where the [2011] World Cup is going to be played,” Graeme Smith said. “Hopefully by then we will have a fully-fit squad and a squad which has developed from here.”There’s a break now and there will be a few new faces in our [Test] squad,” he added. “The last two years have been really terrific for us in Test cricket and we want to carry it on. England have an Ashes-winning squad so it bodes well for a good series.”Attention now turns to preparation for the Test campaign. England head to East London for two two-day matches against a South African Invitational XI, where they will be joined by the Test-squad members who have been with the Performance Squad in Pretoria. South Africa, meanwhile, will reconvene in Potchefstroom on December 11 for a three-day camp before heading to Johannesburg ahead of the opening Test at Centurion. The battle is just hotting up.

A round-up of the fourth day’s games of the HRV Cup

Cricinfo staff06-Jan-2010Jacob Oram starred with the ball to seal a nerve-wracking one-run victory for Central Districts over Otago. Oram scythed through the Otago middle order in a sensational spell of medium-pace bowling that yielded 5 for 14 in four overs. It was the best ever Twenty20 return for a New Zealander, bettering Iain O’Brien’s 5 for 23 for Leicestershire last year. Central Districts needed all of Oram’s class and experience to muster the victory after their batsmen put up a dismal 116. The score was a major disappointment after Ross Taylor hit 40 off 19 balls to set up the innings. The rest of the line-up failed in the face of incisive bowling from Ian Butler and Yasir Arafat who picked three wickets apiece. Otago’s response was stunted by the regular loss of wickets, Oram being the chief destroyer, with no batsman going past Craig Cumming’s 22. In the end, Butler and Warren McSkimming were left to score 12 runs off the last over and fell short by the smallest possible margin.Owais Shah’s blitzkrieg 65 off 29 balls converted what appeared to be a tight chase into a walk in the park as Wellington romped home by seven wickets with 14 balls to spare against Canterbury at Basin Reserve. Wellington’s decision to field first reaped immediate dividends when James Franklin got rid of the in-form Rob Nicol and Peter Fulton early. Michael Papps and Johann Myburgh steadied the ship before Shanan Stewart launched a spectacular attack on the hosts, striking five sixes in his 33-ball 57. Andy McKay went for 38 runs, but snared four scalps including Stewart’s to peg the visitors back in the end overs. Wellington’s top three started the chase in quick fashion, adding 70 runs in 8.2 overs before Shah took over. In a brutal spectacle of power hitting, he scored 65 of the 90 runs that were added in the 9.2 overs when he was at the crease. He hit seven sixes and two fours in his unbeaten innings that spared no bowler except Nicol, whose wicketless four overs went for only 18 runs.

Eric Simons, the former South Africa coach, has been appointed India’s bowling consultant for the upcoming Test series against Bangladesh

Cricinfo staff09-Jan-2010The South African presence in the Indian coaching bench has gained further weight after the BCCI today appointed Eric Simons, the former South Africa coach, as bowling consultant for the upcoming Test series against Bangladesh, and the Test and ODI series at home against South Africa that follow.It has been learned that Simons spoke to Gary Kirsten, India’s coach, last week and that was the first occasion he learned of the management’s interest in him. Simon’s appointment comes after former South African fast bowler Allan Donald’s name cropped up last Tuesday, as one of the contenders for the vacant bowling coach position.MS Dhoni, India’s captain, recently admitted that the absence of a specialist bowling coach is hurting the team’s performance. It was no understatement, because the inconsistency in the fast bowling department has remained a concern right from the World Twenty20. In England, Zaheer Khan had aggravated the shoulder injury he picked during the IPL in South Africa. His inability to go full throttle exposed the younger lot like Ishant Sharma and Praveen Kumar, and though Ashish Nehra was around he was just finding his own feet, having made a return after a long time. Things did not improve during the Champions Trophy, and India’s problems were exacerbated during the home ODI series against Australia, which they lost 4-2.During the recently concluded Sri Lanka series the Indian fast bowlers were lukewarm even if they improved on their death bowling, and in the current tri-series in Bangladesh they have been disappointing. They failed to defend a total of 279 against Sri Lanka and allowed Bangladesh to post 296.The 47-year-old Simons, who played 23 one-day internationals for South Africa and toured New Zealand in 1995, has a rich pedigree in the coaching profession and was South Africa’s head coach from 2002-2004, a period when Kirsten played under him. Simons spread his first-class career, mostly with Western Province, over 17 seasons as a right-arm medium pacer and a handy lower middle order batsman.He has never had any experience as a bowling coach except for the brief stint in the second IPL in South Africa last year, where he worked as a consultant with Royal Challengers Bangalore. Simons has worked in various capacities at the prestigious High Performance Centre in Pretoria along with the likes of Kepler Wessels.

The New Zealand batsman will not be considered for selection for the home series against Bangladesh as he continues to struggle with a lower stomach muscle injury

Cricinfo staff22-Jan-2010Jesse Ryder, the New Zealand batsman, will not be considered for selection for the home series against Bangladesh as he continues to struggle with a lower stomach muscle injury. Ryder had a recurrence of the injury while training, and there are serious doubts over his availability for New Zealand’s home series against Australia as well as the ICC World Twenty20 in May.”Unfortunately Jesse is not fit at the moment,” the national selector Mark Greatbatch said. “He has had a bit of a relapse with his injury. He has still got quite a bit of work to do to get back and play club cricket and for Wellington.”Ryder recently took a significant step in his recovery from an injury that has troubled him since the Indian Premier League in March 2009, appearing for Wellington A in a practice game against the England Under-19 team. He has been sidelined since suffering an abductor strain that he aggravated during the Champions Trophy in South Africa.New Zealand team physiotherapist Kate Stalker met Ryder in Christchurch, along with other New Zealand Cricket medical staff. “He has some abdominal pain again. He hasn’t reinjured it to the same extent he had in the past, but he’s certainly tweaked it,” she told the . “Biomechanical faults take a long time to sort out. It’s not an overnight fix.”Stalker’s comments indicate that Ryder could easily be out of action for the next few months, but as she put it, there was a much bigger picture looming ahead in 13 months. “Is it more important to have him playing against Bangladesh or playing in the World Cup? … my goal is the World Cup,” she said.”Anything else we can have players ready for, like the world Twenty20, that’s fantastic, but our focus is the World Cup and I want the New Zealand selectors to be able to choose from every player we have to make that squad. It’s really important for its longevity that we sort this out now”.New Zealand host Bangladesh for a Twenty20, three ODIs and a one-off Test in Hamilton during February.

Australia’s IPL players are set to meet the Australian Cricketers’ Association (ACA) in Sydney on Tuesday as concerns grow over player security at the event

Cricinfo staff22-Feb-2010Australia’s IPL players are set to meet the Australian Cricketers’ Association (ACA) in Sydney on Tuesday as concerns grow over player security at the event. Players’ unions have reportedly been told by security adviser Reg Dickason that the terrorist threat from the 313 Brigade, Al-Qaeda’s operational arm in Pakistan, is credible and security cannot be guaranteed in India.The ACA chief executive Paul Marsh will meet with the players to discuss whether or not they should head to the tournament, which begins on March 12. Shaun Tait is one of the players contracted to take part in the IPL and he said he was waiting for further information before deciding whether to go to India.”The whole situation is a little bit disappointing because I would love to go to the IPL personally and hopefully everything can work out and we can go,” Tait told AAP. “I am not sure whose decision it is yet and I think we will probably find out a bit more in this meeting tomorrow. Obviously we talk to Rajasthan over the next couple of days and we see what they have to say but apart from that, the rest is out of our control.”The Federation of International Cricketers’ Associations (FICA) warned last week that a spate of player withdrawals was possible due to security concerns over playing in India. Andrew Symonds said last week he was planning to play in the IPL, while Shane Warne initially said he had concerns.Simon Katich, who played in last year’s IPL but is not in the Kings XI Punjab squad this year, said it would be a harder call for many players than when national tours are being assessed for security. “It’s going to be a big decision because obviously there’s going to be guys that might think it is fine to go and others that probably don’t,” Katich said.”But tomorrow we’ll find out for sure where everyone stands. It’s hard to say (what they will decide) at this point, and it’s hard to say what the other countries are going to decide as well. We always as players trust the security advice we’re given. In the past we’ve not gone on tours like Pakistan, and if there’s issues with India … we’ll find out tomorrow the full extent when the meeting is held in Sydney.”

Victoria are the only team in this contest with something to play for but it was Western Australia who controlled the opening day

Cricinfo staff03-Mar-2010Western Australia 3 for 82 (Davis 42) trail Victoria 199 (Jewell 55, Knowles 3-66) by 117 runs

ScorecardBrad Knowles led the Warriors as they dismissed the visitors for 199•Getty Images

Victoria are the only team in this contest with something to play for but it was Western Australia who controlled the opening day. The Warriors, who are officially out of the race for the final, were 117 behind at stumps after dismissing the visitors for 199 in the first two sessions.Western Australia posted 3 for 82 after losing Wes Robinson (18), who offered no shot to Darren Pattinson, and the captain Marcus North. This is a crucial game for North as he is running out of chances to confirm his spot at No. 6 in the Test side, but he edged Andrew McDonald to first slip on 20. In the last over the opener Liam Davis (42) nicked Bryce McGain’s first ball while trying to cut, ensuring a tense session on the second morning.Victoria were docked a point for a slow over rate in their previous game, which cut their lead over Queensland to three, so they began the match desperate to re-seal their spot in the final. They were sent in and the situation looked bright when the opener Nick Jewell moved to a half-century.Jewell’s post-lunch exit to Brad Knowles on 55 started a costly collapse of 6 for 54 that dropped the Bushrangers to 8 for 155. Andrew McDonald (6) was run-out chasing a risky single before David Hussey was caught behind off Michael Hogan on 17. The wicketkeeper Luke Ronchi was also responsible for Matthew Wade’s exit and when Damien Wright was bowled by Steve Magoffin the home side was in command.John Hastings’ unbeaten 28 extended the innings, which finished when Knowles gained his third wicket by bowling McGain. Magoffin and Hogan provided useful support with two each.

Mohammad Asif, the Pakistan fast bowler is confident that his side will successfully defend their World Twenty20 title

Cricinfo staff17-Apr-2010Mohammad Asif, the Pakistan fast bowler, is confident that his side will successfully defend their title during the ICC World Twenty20 in the West Indies.”I only know that Pakistan are favourites and we will win the World Cup” Asif told PakPassion.net. “The training camp has been very good preparation for all of the boys. Yes it’s been hard work, but I believe it will definitely help ahead of the World Cup in the West Indies. The preparation for such an important tournament has to be spot on.”The fast bowler was full of praise for Waqar Younis, the side’s bowling coach. “Waqar has been very helpful with his thoughts on my bowling. He analyses the art of bowling very well and has constantly provided me with feedback, advice and support. We have worked together on some new things, a few variations here and there, and they have worked out very well.”The camp has provided me with an opportunity to once again work with one of Pakistan’s greatest ever cricketers. We had already worked together on the tours of New Zealand and Australia and we have continued in Lahore the work that we put in on those tours. Waqar hasn’t spotted any major technical flaws in my bowling, but as I said, we have worked on some minor adjustments and new ideas here and there,” Asif said.The bowler revealed his game-plan in the shortest format involved being one step ahead of the batsman. “Twenty20 cricket is totally different from the other versions of the game and as a bowler I believe you have to try and out-think the batsman. My objective is to outsmart the batsman, try and be one step ahead of your opponent. This form of the game is mentally very tough as a bowler and I always try to dodge the batsman,” he said.Asif said he was ready to take on different responsibilities with the ball, depending on the requirement. “I am prepared to bowl whenever the captain or the team needs me to. In twenty-over cricket you know the batting side is looking to attack you continuously. If the team needs me to bowl four overs at the start, I am happy to do that, if they want me to bowl some of my spell at the start and then come back later in the innings, I am more than happy to do that for my team and skipper.”What I do look to do is to try and get an early breakthrough for my team, as I feel that if you get early wickets you put the opposition onto the back foot. They have to reassess their strategy and the new batsmen will have to come in and will realise that they have already lost one or two top order batsmen,” he said.

Chris Jordan, Surrey’s highly-rated 21-year-old allrounder, could miss the first 10 weeks of the season due to a back problem

Cricinfo staff06-Apr-2010Chris Jordan, Surrey’s highly-rated 21-year-old allrounder, could miss the first 10 weeks of the season due to a back problem.He is two weeks into a six-week rehabilitation programme, after which he will be carefully guided back to match fitness. Surrey have said it could be up to a further six weeks before Jordan is fit enough for selection, but he may be available within a fortnight of the rehab programme ending.Barbados-born Jordan was troubled by the back problem last season after suffering a stress fracture earlier in his career. Chris Adams, the Surrey coach, said they will be patient with his recovery. “We’re working towards his career and improving his career from this point in time. He carries the tag of great potential. It’s been a really frustrating time for him, frustrating for us as well. We certainly want that talent out on the field.”But let’s hope that we’ve finally got to the bottom of something. His bulging disc through this period will have time to rest but I’m quietly confident that we are doing everything we possibly can now.”

Senior BCCI functionaries met the top brass of IMG in Mumbai today to question their role in the various allegations related to the IPL

Nagraj Gollapudi17-May-2010Senior BCCI functionaries, including Shashank Manohar (president) and N Srinivasan (secretary) met the top brass of IMG in Mumbai on Monday to seek clarifications on their role in the various allegations related to the IPL. The meeting was described by Andrew Wildblood, IMG’s senior vice-president, as “brief, friendly and constructive.”IMG, one of the top global sports management firms, has been a key part of the IPL since its inception, primarily involved in areas such as formulating the franchise bidding, player contracts and auctions, the media rights issues, the broadcast rights and especially the day-to-day running of the league. Its role in the running of the league has come into question since the suspension of Lalit Modi as the IPL chairman. It was expected that the board would clarify whether IMG was aware of Modi’s alleged misdemeanours, including the charges related to rigging of the initial bids for a couple of franchises in 2008.The IMG team in Mumbai also included its senior legal counsels Paul Manning and John Laffhagen, the latter having drafted the player contracts.Manohar had seemingly pointed fingers at IMG immediately after the IPL governing council meeting on April 26, saying the council trusted Modi and the IMG to run the league in a professional manner. He was responding to a query about the culpability of the council in the IPL mess.”An institution functions on trust,” Manohar had said. “If you are expecting every governing council member to come here every morning at 10 and leave at 10 in the night to look at what is happening everywhere, then we don’t need the other staff which is there. Then we don’t need to pay IMG Rs 27 crore [approx $6 million] and we don’t need a CEO to run the IPL. It is their job to do all these things.”This is not the first time IMG has been caught in a web of controversy. The board was unhappy with the original deal signed by the IPL with IMG which involved a management fee of 10% of tournament revenue. IMG was paid Rs 43 crore after IPL 1 and Rs 33 crore after the tournament was shifted to South Africa in 2009. The board then asked IMG to submit a revised proposal but the latter failed to do so within the stipulated deadline and hence the contract was terminated in 2008. Eventually the contract was re-negotiated and both parties settled for a figure of Rs 27 crore as annual payment from the third season.Apart from the IPL controversy, the board was also expected to question IMG’s role in the proposed “parallel IPL” in the UK, a charge that was pressed by Giles Clarke, the ECB chairman recently. Clarke alleged that Modi was trying to induce counties to set-up a rebel Twenty20 league that would undermine the ECB. The reason IMG got dragged into the imbroglio was because of the presence of two of its senior officials – Wildblood and Peter Griffiths (director of operations) at the March 31 meeting, where Modi met representatives from Lancashire, Warwickshire and Yorkshire.IMG vehemently denied their role in setting up any such league and clarified through a statement that they had just facilitated a meeting between Modi and the counties. The BCCI issued a second show-cause to Modi in the Clarke affair, asking him to submit his reply in 15 days. The deadline expires on May 21.

Sri Lanka’s sports minister, Chandrasiri Bandara Ratnayake, has called Sri Lanka Cricket the third most corrupt institution in the country

Cricinfo staff31-May-2010Sri Lanka’s sports minister, Chandrasiri Bandara Ratnayake, has called Sri Lanka Cricket the third most corrupt institution in the country, and has promised to revamp the way the game is administered, even if it means replacing the incumbent members.Addressing a press conference in Colombo in the presence of Aravinda de Silva, the newly appointed chairman of selectors, Ratnayake said he would replace the current interim committee headed by former Test player Somachandra de Silva, next week. Ratnayake had a problem with the way finances were handled by the committee, adding that there was a lot of wastage of resources.”The first and second are education and police. Sri Lanka Cricket is the third-most corrupt institution in the country,” Ratnayake said.Ratnayake swung in to action last week when he replaced the previous selection panel, headed by Ashantha de Mel, with the one now with Aravinda at the helm. Ranjith Fernando, Amal Silva and Shabbir Asgerally are the other members of the new panel. The outgoing panel was accused of favoritism, and Ratnayake said the new panel will not entertain any political influence.Ratnayake said the most important target for the new panel is the World Cup in the subcontinent next year. “Aravinda has nine months to prepare and groom a squad that is capable of winning the World Cup,” Ratnayake said. “We have not won the Cup since 1996, my aim is to win another title for our country.”