All posts by csb10.top

Looking out across a sunny County Ground in Taunton earlier today Somerset chief executive Peter Anderson reflected on England’s defeat in the first Test match of the Ashes tour.He told me:"In messages back to the club both Andy Caddick and Marcus Trescothick have expressed their complete disappointment over the result and don’t offer up any excuses."The chief continued: "I am backing both of our players and we should not be drawn into stinging criticism after only one match. Australia are a very good team, but there are still four matches to go.”He continued: “The time for criticism if any is warranted is at the end of the series and not after the first Test."Regarding the Cidermen’s paceman he added : "With all of the bowling injuries, England are very lucky indeed to have Andy Caddick who never shirks anything."

KARACHI, Sept 4: The Pakistan team for this month’s ICC Champions Trophy is expected to be changed in the backdrop of recent performances in Nairobi.A meeting of the selectors has been convened by the chairman of the Pakistan Cricket Board in the next 48 hours to make the necessary changes.The selectors are expected to meet sometime early next week as the tournament begins Sept 12 with the opener between Pakistan and Sri Lanka. The winner will be guaranteed a place in the semifinals as the other team in the group is Holland.Indications are that Misbah-ul-Haq, who was initially overlooked for the Colombo competition, would be included in place of Imran Nazir who has been a complete flop in the last four weeks.Shoaib Malik’s place also appears to be under threat as off-spinner Saqlain Mushtaq is expected be recalled. It may be added here that Saqlain was keen to play in Colombo but was overlooked after he refused to tour Nairobi to look after his wife who is expecting a baby.However, if Saqlain fails to get the selectors nod, wrist spinner Danish Kaneria might be drafted in. Kaneria was initially recommended by the team management for the Champions Trophy. He was, nevertheless, not included in the 14-man squad.The selectors will also be taking a decision on Inzamam-ul-Haq who has missed three matches in the ongoing triangular tournament because of a bad knee.

July 13th will always be remembered as a golden day in the annalsof Indian cricket hence. Under clear blue skies and with Lord’sbathed in golden sunshine, the Indian skipper Sourav Ganguly wentdown on his knees to kiss the hallowed turf after what could betermed as the greatest comeback win in one-day cricket history.The eventual win had looked highly improbable when India had lostfive of their top batsmen, including Sachin Tendulkar, with just146 runs on the board in 24 overs. But thankfully Saturday was towitness a miraculous recovery by the Indians and an end to ablighted sequence of nine straight losses in the finals of multiteam limited overs tournament.

As far as I was concerned, the most satisfying aspect of this winwas that the heroes were two young men, who refused to give up inthe face of almost impossible odds, and went on to ensure thatall of India rejoiced in sweet victory. Mohammad Kaif and YuvrajSingh have indeed infused a new life into Indian cricket whilealso instilling a new-found belief in the millions of fans whosupport their team.One of the best matches played at Lord’s witnessed a deluge ofruns – 651 runs were scored in a matter of 99.3 overs – in whatturned out to be a summer treat for everyone present at theheadquarters of world cricket, including even the prim and MCC members.No one would have imagined at the start of the day that thefortunes of the would fluctuate sodramatically from one team to the other.I was a bit bemused by the Indian management’s decision to dropAjit Agarkar, who it has to be said has had a brillianttournament with the ball. It is another matter altogether thatHarbhajan Singh, his replacement, contributed with the bat at thedeath. Had India lost the match, the decision to play twospinners would have definitely come in for some much-deservedcriticism. There, however, is nothing like winning, and theycould be forgiven this faux pas after a win of suchincandescence.England have been playing some smart cricket under the ableleadership of Nasser Hussain. I have only deep respect forHussain’s leadership qualities; here is a man who has instilled alot of character into the England team. His decision to bat firstagainst an Indian side, which went in with just two mediumpacers, was by all counts right.Having said that, Hussain disappointed with his decisions towardsthe closing stages of the game; the field placements were allawry and there was a certain complacency in his team’s approachwho it seemed almost expected India to buckle under the pressureof having to score 326 runs. In my opinion, Hussain, then, giftedIndia a memorable win.

This after Marcus Trescothick had ignited the England inningswith a luminescent start in the morning. Trescothick, in myopinion, must rank right up there in the order of merit with thevery best in the world. Along with Matthew Hayden, he must rankas the best opening batsman in business today.He played an impeccable innings, not resorting even once to anunorthodox short on a placid track; there were runs to be scoredand he showed how to get them in style without the slightestfuss. When you have efficiency, class and character blending likethey did in Trescothick’s innings, there is very little thatbowlers can do.In contrast to Trescothick, Hussain looked like a man who haddragged excess baggage with him into the middle. I was not amusedby his antics after scoring his maiden ODI hundred – pointing hisnumber three on the shirt to a few of his detractors. It was nota polished hundred by any stretch of the imagination.The England captain wasted too many scoring opportunities bytrying to play the reverse sweep. There is a time and place foreverything; a big final at Lord’s is simply not the place to trythings out – that is what nets are for.It is a completely different story that Andy Flower plays thatstroke to perfection; the many indefatigable hours of practicethat he put in has made Andy a master at it. I am sure that ifHussain had played sensible cricketing shots, England would havescored 20-odd runs more in the end. There were 59 dot balls inhis innings and on a belter of a track that simply wasunacceptable.Coming to the Indian challenge, it threatened to vapourise afterGanguly and Sehwag had given their team a good start with somebrave and innovative hitting. Yes, India has been playing somegood cricket in England. But on the day of the big final,Ganguly, Rahul Dravid and Sachin Tendulkar were guilty of notapplying themselves. Everyone knows that Tendulkar is a classbatsman, and this makes it the more difficult for me to believethat someone like Giles actually gets the better of him inpersonal duels.When it all looked dead and buried, the two young men – Kaif andYuvraj – refused to accept defeat, a very positive attitude thatmight soon change the face of Indian cricket. We have seen somany times in the past, the Indian team folding up when victoryis well within their grasp.

No words are enough to praise Kaif for a wonderful exhibition ofbatting; it was simply sublime, not one wild slog even whenthings looked so desperate. Yuvraj Singh also played yet anotherinnings of character, taking his time to settle before openingout to punish the part-time bowlers.The temperament, self-belief, natural talent and hunger forsuccess that they displayed, makes these two guys real matchwinners. I sincerely hope that the selectors take note of thisand retain them for the Test series too.Andrew Flintoff bowled very well in the end and almost gaveEngland a realistic shot at victory. But Kaif put paid to hishopes; the Indian middle-order batsman kept a cool head and tookhis team to a sensational victory.Great indeed as Kaif’s and Yuvraj’s contributions were, I cannothelp remarking that Hussain made it easier for the duo by somestrange field placements. Kaif was finding the ropes at midwicket with such ease and yet most of the fielders were on theoff-side.I am sure India will take the belief gained from this victory tothe upcoming Test series. The morale must be sky high in theIndian camp, and they now have a real chance of upsetting Englandin the Test series. This indeed is the time for a whole nationto rejoice.

West Indies captain Carl Hooper said he was very disappointed with theresult yesterday as the West Indies fell to defeat by 37 runs in thesecond Cable & Wireless Test against India at the Queen’s Park Oval,Trinidad.I think coming into the last day here, we really fancied our chancesand it was disappointing the way we sort of ended up, 30-odd runsshort, Hooper told reporters after the match.Set a challenging 313 runs for victory, the Windies fell for 275,digging their own grave with most of the batsmen falling to falsestrokes rather than brilliant deliveries from the visitors.The captain said that at no stage did he give up on the West Indiesgetting the runs needed for victory.Right to the very last end, I thought that we had a chance. Thirtyodd runs is not a lot runs but you needed somebody. Shiv [Chanderpaul]maybe needed to take a few more chances but that’s the game, Hoopernoted.Chanderpaul remained 67 not out as wickets fell all around him.I thought from the outset they would try to make runs difficult tocome by and that’s what they did. They bowled straight and locked upboth the offside and onside, He said.The thing to do, I suppose is to capitalise on the bad balls and keepthe scoreboard ticking with the singles. I think it was a bitunfortunate we lost Brian [Lara] and then almost immediately after,myself.That set us back a whole lot and obviously put the pressure on peoplelike Chris Gayle, who I thought played well and ShivnarineChanderpaul, Hooper said.Despite losing his second consecutive Test at the venue after the lossto South Africa last year, Hooper said he could find no fault with thepitch.We had the knowledgeable experts predicting how it was going to playand so on but I thought we had a belter of a Test wicket, Hooperdeclared.Coach Roger Harper also expressed disappointment with losing the Testand going down 1-0 in the five-match series.This is very disappointing. We had a similar situation here againstSouth Africa last year and most members of the team were here and weshould have learnt from that experience and unfortunately we came upshort, Harper said.I think, you can’t fault the effort. Everyone fought hard but I thinkwe need to play a little smarter, added Harper.He noted the batsmen’s failure to carry on for bigger scorescontributed to the Windies’ inadequate totals of 245 and 275 in theTest.In Guyana, we managed to put a very good total on the board. One ofthe things we talked about there was that batsmen that got in, got tostart carrying on. I think here we didn’t see that, Harper noted.He also zeroed in on the West Indies’ bowling in the first session onthe opening day after India were sent in to bat.I thought we definitely could’ve bowled a lot better in that firstsession. Had we done that, it may have meant India making 40, 50 less,Harper conceded.

Once again bad light cut short proceedings at the Eden Gardens in Kolkata. Not before India reached 195/4, taking a 56 run lead thanks to a sparkling century from Sachin Tendulkar. The little master chalked up his first ever Test ton at India’s biggest venue, the 31st of his career and saved India from slipping into a precarious position. With just one day left, an outright result looks improbable, if not entirely unlikely.To be honest though, it was a day of high excitement. The first two and a half hours in particular kept the crowds on their seats, yelling, shouting and urging the home team on. As many as eight wickets fell in the first session of the fourth day’s play.India’s spinners helped the hosts claw their way back into the game reducing West Indies from 446/5 to 497 all out. India, responding to a deficit of 139 managed 51/3 at lunch.Sourav Ganguly opened the bowling with Virender Sehwag and watched in dismay as the first ball was creamed to the cover fence. Just two balls later however, Shivnarine Chanderpaul (140 runs, 258 balls, 17 fours, 1 six) cut a long hop straight to Harbhajan Singh at point. Chanderpaul equaled his highest Test score, reaching the same mark he set against India at Guyana in the last series.Twenty-one year old Marlon Samuels cracked his maiden Test century but was out soon after. Samuels (104 runs, 183 balls, 10 fours) poking at a ball from Harbhajan only managed an edge to the on side that Sehwag snapped up sharply. The middle-order has won praise from all quarters for the manner in which he batted. While being effective, Samuels was elegant. His shot selection was spot on for the duration of his stay out in the middle.After the fall of Samuels’ wicket the tail folded up meekly. Anil Kumble snapped up Darren Powell (0) and Jermaine Lawson (5) albeit with some help from umpire Asoka de Silva who upheld an lbw shout that would have certainly slipped down the leg side.Harbhajan ended with 5/115 and West Indies were all out for 497. Kumble, with 3/169 managed to salvage some lost pride.In response, India got off to the worst possible start as Sanjay Bangar edged the first ball of the innings – delivered by Merv Dillon to Chanderpaul at third slip. Bangar has been a font of solidity and strength at the top of the order and his dismissal so early on gave the West Indies the perfect boost.Virender Sehwag after cracking two handsome boundaries in a seven-ball ten watched in disbelief as a clever bit of thinking cleaned him up. Planting a fielder at leg slip, Dillon dug a delivery in short on the pads. Taking the bait Sehwag glanced and the ball landed in the Chanderpaul’s lap at the aforementioned position.Rahul Dravid, batting beautifully on 17 was cut short once again for no fault of his. When he inside edged Darren Powell onto his pads the loud shout for lbw was upheld by umpire de Silva. A shocking decision, and ironically, almost an action replay of the one David Shepherd handed Dravid in the first innings.The period between lunch and tea was one of consolidation for India. From 49/3 India inched their way to 141/4 at tea. The only wicket that fell was that of Sourav Ganguly, and Tendulkar took charge of proceedings for his part, from his end.Very early in the session Ganguly fell. Bowling over the wicket to the left hander, Cameron Cuffy got a delivery to pitch just a fraction outside the leg stump and Ganguly was rapped on the pad. The ball did not straighten at all and would have certainly missed the off stump. Nevertheless umpire Asoka de Silva saw it fit to send the Indian captain packing for 16.From then on Tendulkar took charge. A flurry of trademark strokes hammered into advertising hoardings around the ground. None better than that copybook on drive where Tendulkar managed to pick the ball up from just outside the off stump and punch it back past the bowler to the on side.It has been said innumerable times in the past, most loudly by his critics, that Tendulkar fails to make runs when India needs it the most. Today, when the chips were down, Tenbdulkar came up with the goods. Not being altogether destructive, or indeed too defensive, Tendulkar remained unbeaten on 114 (195 balls, 17 fours) as the players walked off the field.The first to congratulate Tendulkar was VVS Laxman. It is difficult to reliably define the value of Laxman in this Indian side. When the batting is firing well, he seldom gets a chance to showcase his wares at number six. When early wickets fall, he is under pressure and often has to shepherd the tail. Today, despite the pressure, the Hyderabadi stylist had Tendulkar for company. Realising his role early on, Laxman was content to play second fiddle, scoring a patient unbeaten 30 (105 balls, 4 fours) in a partnership of 108 for the fifth wicket.Actually, there is one way of clearly judging how valuable Laxman is. If he had gone for a first-ball duck, India would have been 87/5. Tendulkar would have had to contend with a deficit of 52 runs, with only Parthiv Patel and the tail for company. The game might well have been all over for India.Back to reality from the land of speculation. The game is not up. Funnily enough, it is still wide open.

One of the most prestigious events on the secondary schools’ sporting calendar in New Zealand, cricket’s Gillette Cup finals, will be played out over the weekend in Palmerston North.The teams who have qualified for this year’s event are: Kelston Boys’ High School, Hamilton Boys’ High School, Wanganui Collegiate and Southland Boys’ High School.The tournament opens at Fitzherbert Park on Friday when Wanganui play Kelson and Southland play Hamilton.On Saturday, Kelston play Hamilton and Southland meet Wanganui.On the last day, Hamilton play Wanganui and Kelston play Southland.Kelston qualified by beating Dilworth School, Sacred Heart College, Westlake Boys’ High School, King’s College and Whangarei Boys’ High School.Hamilton beat Te Awamutu College, Hillcrest High School, St Paul’s Collegiate and Tauranga Boys’ College.Wanganui beat Wanganui High School, St Augustine’s College, New Plymouth Boys’ High School and Wellington College.Southland beat Verdon College, James Hargest High School, Waitaki Boys’ High School, Otago Boys’ High School and St Andrew’s College.Over the years the tournament has fashioned an outstanding record of achievement by its participants. Thirty-three finalists have gone on to play first-class cricket and eight, Matthew Bell, Robert Kennedy, Brendon McCullum, Hamish Marshall, Jacob Oram, Andrew Penn, Mathew Sinclair and Scott Styris have gone on to play for New Zealand while former Otago, Auckland and Wellington player Ian Billcliff helped Canada qualify for the World Cup and is a strong chance to appear at it in February.The highest score in the tournament’s history was 122 not out scored by Jamie Rae of Wanganui Collegiate. Seven centuries in total have been scored while Bell and Robert Lawson each finished matches on 99 not out.The best bowling belongs to Mark Pearson who took seven for 32 for Auckland Grammar against Wanganui Collegiate in 2000.The highest score by a team was 337/6 scored by Wanganui Collegiate against Rathkeale College in 1997.The finalists’ teams are:Kelston Boys’ High School: Shaun Page, Michael Forbes, Jason Fuller, Roneel Hira, Chris Langdon, Barry Lynch, Ben Mailata, James Matthews, Paul Matthews, Fa’a’sao Mulivai, Anand Patel, Chris Scheib. Team management: Chris McGarvey, Blair Webby, Sagren Govender.Hamilton Boys’ High School: Jason Perrett, Keir Bettley, Daniel Boughtwood, Anton Devcich, Dane McLeod, Sam McLeod, Jono McNeill, Sam Thomas, Bryce Turner, Bradley Watling, Cameron Weight, Ben Wilcock. Coach: Chris Kuggeleijn.Wanganui Collegiate: Ben Collier, Josh Ambler, James Barton, Guy Bryden, Richard de Gruchy, Darcy Hooper-Smith, Jack Jefferd, Jonathan Kight, Tom Lance, Ben Orton, Willy White, Richard Wylie. Team management: Robert Wake, Rob van Dort.Southland Boys’ High School: Tim McClean, Matthew Anderson-Stewart, Mark Beer, Campbell Cuthill, Shaun Fitzgibbon, Hamish Hargest, Regan Mauheni, Mike McClean, Andrew Mills, Daniel Ramsay, Hamish Skelt, James Wadsworth. Team management: Lindsay McClean, Peter Skelt.Previous winners were: 1990, Palmerston North BHS; 1991, St Kentigern College; 1992, Otago BHS; 1993, Otago BHS; 1994, Whangarei BHS; 1995, Wanganui Collegiate; 1996, St Patrick’s College (Silverstream), 1997, Wanganui Collegiate; 1998, Palmerston North BHS, 1999 Christchurch BHS; 2000, Auckland Grammar; 2001, Wellington College.

The following suspensions have been confirmed, with effect from 23 August 2002:Jamie Glasson (South Wilts CC)
Suspended for the next two League matchesColin Jolley (Hartley Wintney CC)
Suspended for the next two League matchesSuspensions apply to organisations affiliated to the Hampshire Cricket Board and to neighbouring County Boards.

Wed 23rd April CCh Kent (away) 4 DaysSun 27th April NCL Kent (away) 1 DayWED 30TH APRIL CCh ESSEX GRACE ROAD 4 DAYSSUN 4TH MAY NCL GLAMORGAN GRACE ROAD 1 DAYMon 5th May NCL Gloucestershire (away) 1 DayWed 7th May C & G Northumberland (away) 1 DayFRI 9TH MAY UNIV L’ BOROUGH UCCE GRACE ROAD 3 DAYSWed 14th May CCh Surrey (away) 4 daysSUN 18TH MAY NCL YORKSHIRE GRACE ROAD 1 DAYWED 21ST MAY CCh MIDDLESEX GRACE ROAD 4 DAYSWed 28th May C & G (P) *** C & G Trophy *** 1 DaySUN 1ST JUNE NCL GLOUCESTERSHIRE GRACE ROAD 1 DAYWed 4th June CCh Lancashire (away) 4 DaysTues 10th June or Wed 11th C & G (P)*** C & G Trophy *** 1 DaySAT 14TH JUNE TOU PAKISTAN GRACE ROAD 1 DAYSun 15th June NCL Worcestershire (away) 1 DayMON 16TH JUNE * 20 YORKSHIRE GRACE ROAD 1 DAYWed 18th June * 20 Durham (away) 1 DayFRI 20TH JUNE * 20 LANCASHIRE GRACE ROAD 1 DAYSat 21st June * 20 Nottinghamshire (away) 1 DaySun 22nd June NCL Yorkshire (away) 1 DayTUES 24TH JUNE * 20 DERBYSHIRE GRACE ROAD 1 DAYFRI 27TH JUNE CCh NOTTINGHAMSHIRE GRACE ROAD 4 DAYSWED 2ND JULY CCh WARWICKSHIRE GRACE ROAD 4 DAYSSUN 6TH JULY TOU INDIA ‘A’ GRACE ROAD 1 DAYWed 9th July CCh Middlesex (away) 4 DaysSUN 13TH JULY NCL WORCESTERSHIRE GRACE ROAD 1 DAYTUES 15TH JULY CCh SUSSEX GRACE ROAD 4 DAYSat 19th July * 20 (P)*** 20 overs Trophy Final *** 1 DayWed 23rd July CCh Essex (away) 4 DaysSun 27th July NCL Essex (away) 1 DayWED 30TH JULY CCh LANCASHIRE GRACE ROAD 4 DAYSSUN 3RD AUGUST NCL WARWICKSHIRE GRACE ROAD 1 DAYThurs 7th August or Sat 9th C & G (P)*** C & G Trophy *** 1 DaySUN 10TH AUGUST NCL ESSEX GRACE ROAD 1 DAYWed 13th August NCL (F) Warwickshire (away) 1 DayThurs 14th August CCh Warwickshire (away) 4 DaysWED 20TH AUGUST NCL (F) SURREY GRACE ROAD 1 DAYTHUR 21ST AUGUST CCh SURREY GRACE ROAD 4 DAYSTues 26th August CCh Nottinghamshire (away) 4 DaysSat 30th August C & G (P) *** C & G Trophy *** 1 DayTues 2nd September NCL (F) Glamorgan (away) 1 DayWED 10TH SEPTEMBER CCh KENT GRACE ROAD 4 DAYSSUN 14TH SEPTEMBER NCL KENT GRACE ROAD 1 DAYWed 17th September CCh Sussex (away) 4 DaysSun 21st September NCL Surrey (away) 1 DayF = FLOODLIT MATCH P = POSSIBLE MATCHOAKHAM SCHOOL FIXTURE TO BE FINALISED.

Selling of rights for next year’s World Cup in South Africa is going well and deals have recently been completed in Bangladesh and Sri Lanka, World Sport Group chief executive Seamus O’Brien said today.WSG has made several deals and the only problem areas in regard to television rights had been in Britain and Australia.However, O’Brien said today that Newscorp, who now had full financial control of the World Cup, were dealing with their own people in those countries.Deals had earlier been done in New Zealand, where Sky has the rights, and South Africa.O’Brien added that some large deals had been done for the World Cup in India and there were eight or nine that had been completed and the marketing was on track for the event.O’Brien also clarified an earlier report that his company was to be sold to Newscorp.It was the Global Cricket Corporation that had been fully acquired by Newscorp, he said.

Leicestershire fell short by 55 runs in their bid for victory in the Second X1 Championship clash with Essex at Oakham School.Set a target of 304 they were bowled out for 249 after Tom New and Damien Brandy had put them in with a chance with a century stand.But in the end the extra experience of an Essex side which included Mark Illott proved decisive, and Leicestershire were unable to achieve what would have been a memorable win.Coach Lloyd Tennant was more than satisfied with the effort however, and said that despite defeat there were a lot of plusses to come out of the match.Tennant said:”New batted really well to make 89,Brandy scored another 48 to follow up his half-century in the first innings, and Stephen Adshead returned to form as well with a fine 50.”When you consider that the oldest batter in our side was Ashley Wright at 21, then it was a good effort to go as close as we did.We have gone down the path of playing youngsters this season, and we knew it would be tough for them in many of the games.”But there are real signs of improvement,and the good thing is that we are now starting to compete and give the opposition a run for their money.”