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."

At least in Tabarak Dar’s mind there is no question which is the better team between India and Pakistan. Twice, the Hong Kong captain has been asked this and twice he has been emphatic with his verdict. “On current form there is no doubt that India are the stronger side,” he said. Many will demur but Pakistan and India potentially play three times in this tournament so an answer will soon be evident.The pressure in these matches may be receding with familiarity but ShoaibMalik, Pakistan’s captain, reckons the hosts will feel the heat a little bit. “A little difference is made from playing so often but in both our countries, crowds want a win all the time. There is a little more pressure on us being at home, but we are confident going into the Indiagame.”It is likely that Pakistan will go in with the same XI and that Malik opensagain, though only after looking at the surface. “We want to keep thesame side, but it will depend on the wicket,” Malik said.Malik will hope the top-order collapse against Hong Kong was a blip butwill also want some contributions from his middle-order, where Misbah-ul-Haq andShahid Afridi have gone a number of innings without a fifty. Thoughcriticism of Misbah should be offset by his position in the batting order- one fifty in his last 12 innings hides his position nestled most oftenat six or seven – Afridi’s batting form is a worry, with only one fifty in his last22 ODIs.”Misbah bats lower down the order but whenever he bats he makes a 30 or40,” Malik said. “He bats in difficult situations lower down so that makes a difference.Anyway no player scores in every match.”Afridi’s situation is more complex. Though his batting has been poor, hehas almost become a specialist bowler. In his last 22 matches, he hasbowled his full quota 16 times, picking up 34 wickets in the process.Ramiz Raja, the former Pakistan captain, believes Afridi needs a move up the order to regain some confidence. “I’ve been noticing a difference in the way he bats for quitesometime,” Ramiz told . “He seems to hesitate a lot. I’mnot sure why but that is certainly affecting his batting.”I think the only way Afridi can overcome this lean patch is by batting upthe order. He should be opening the innings. That way he would get plentyof overs and I’m sure that within a few games, he would be in full flowagain.”I believe the team management will have to rethink Afridi’s position ashis batting is falling apart. He is too big an asset for Pakistan cricketand needs to be utilised properly.”

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.”

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.

John Crawley is optimistic that his injured back will be fully recovered in time for him to make a comeback to international cricket after an absence of three years.Crawley, recalled to the England squad for the first Test against Sri Lanka, was encouraged by a prctice session with his team mates at Lord’s today. He sustained the injury while batting for his new county, Hampshire, against Kent last week.”We’ve had three or four sessions today and it’s improved immeasurably. It should be 100 per cent tomorrow,” Crawley said.”It was a problem with a ligament on the left-hand side of the back. It’s a minor problem but it was enough for me not to play for Hampshire against Gloucestershire.”I have a strenuous day tomorrow to make sure there’s no chance of a recurrence, but I don’t think either the physios or I are worried,” Crawley added.Crawley was included in the 13-man England squad after a wonderful start to the season for his new club, including 272 in his first Championship innings.It is understood that Warwickshire’s 20-year-old batsman Ian Bell, who was considered for the original squad, is on standby to take Crawley’s place.”We will have to see how John is before we make any decisions about who weare likely to call up,” said David Graveney, England’s chairman of selectors.

Canterbury’s cricket clubs are being asked to consider some far-reaching changes for the benefit of cricket throughout the region.New chief executive Richard Reid has written to all clubs seeking comment on some suggestions he has made.Among the suggestions he has made are:A region-wide premier club competition in three divisions.The club season to start later and to run from November-April.Later starts on Saturdays at 12 noon, with finishes around 7pm.Automatic promotion-relegation between divisions.A guaranteed place for the nine senior clubs, and involvement of no more than seven teams from the Suburban and Districts’ associations.Integration of the two-day and one-day competitions.A new points format.Implementation of a region-wide subsidised coaching policy.Initiatives in schools and lower grade cricket.Reid stressed that he was seeking comment on his suggestions and has asked all clubs to consider them and report back with their own thoughts.Reid said the delay in the start of the season would need a change of thinking in several codes.”Ground availability, cricketers who play winter sports, dew, day-light hours, are all relevant points but conceptually I need to know what you think.”I am aware that if cricket is to go down this path it cannot do it alone. There needs to be a quantum shift in the thinking of other sporting codes. It would require their buy-in and co-operation,” he said.Coaching was an area where improvement was vital.”This is a crucial area and something that we, as a body, do not do well.”Canterbury Cricket will be moving towards next season offering each club/district a coaching subsidy to assist in this key component.”My personal view is that we need a Canterbury (Inc) approach in coaching and development.”What I mean by this is that we should agree on a philosophy in all that we do and replicate it throughout the region. This allows for continuity of approach and makes it easier for players as they know what to expect as they progress through the grades,” he said.However, he warned the coaching subsidy would come with hooks.These would be dependent upon a coaching and development plan for each club and district, regular checkpoints which would be the decider of whether the subsidy would continue to be paid and clubs and districts would be responsible for prioritising the coaching and development areas within their organisation.

Just when you thought Australia couldn’t become any stronger, it duly appeared to emerge from today’s Carlton Series encounter against Zimbabwe in Sydney in even more formidable shape. Beyond the mere matter of a crushing eighty-six run win, this was a game which offered it a great chance to experiment. And it did so in particularly successful style.In again reshuffling its batting order, in again rotating its playing list, in setting Test-style attacking fields, and in turning to unlikely change bowlers, the home team’s most difficult challenges today were again provided by its own brains trust – and not the opposition. Captain Steve Waugh conjured up one of the sternest tests of all, perhaps, when he won the toss and decided that his team would bat in possibly the most demanding conditions of the day.But, after Adam Gilchrist (63) and a slightly-tentative Mark Waugh (36) had weathered the swing and seam extracted by new ball bowlers Heath Streak (1/56 from ten overs) and Bryan Strang (1/50 off ten) in muggy, humid conditions, this proved another stroll in the park. The fifth successive Australian opening stand to exceed the half-century mark in this series provided the platform for a brutal onslaught that ultimately took the Australians to within twelve runs of their highest ever one-day international score against Zimbabwe.Ninety-eight runs had been added by the time that the Gilchrist-Waugh stand was eventually ended – by means of a bizarre run out. Waugh was the unlucky batsman, departing after Gilchrist had powered back a straight drive with such force that his partner had no chance to regain his ground at the non-striker’s end as the ball went past him. He could only watch in horror as it took a thin deflection from bowler Brian Murphy’s fingers back on to the stumps. Gilchrist made his own exit shortly afterwards, when he was deceived by a Strang delivery and lofted a simple catch to mid wicket.For as much encouragement as the sight of the two openers returning to the pavilion must have provided, though, there was only more in the way of punishment for the Zimbabweans to follow. Characteristically, Michael Bevan (74*) proceeded to anchor a succession of productive stands.Importantly for the Australians, theirs was an innings which offered valuable time in the middle for a number of players who have barely been required to bat in this series. Together with Bevan, Steve Waugh (36) and Andrew Symonds (21) also capitalised upon chances that have been far from readily forthcoming.The Zimbabweans, for their part, toiled manfully. With the new ball, Streak and Strang were steady and also generated sideways movement and variable bounce at different moments. Spinners Murphy (0/38 from eight overs) and Dirk Viljoen (3/62 off ten) also bowled tidily during the middle stages of the innings.But there were times when the bowlers and fieldsmen looked helpless, powerless even. At no point was this more obvious than during the closing eleven overs of the innings, when Bevan, Darren Lehmann (36) and Symonds combined to help themselves to a gargantuan 110 runs and clobber the total toward 6/291. It was a feast of brilliantly improvised strokeplay and electrifying running between the wickets that again served to underline the vast gulf that exists between Australia and its opponents in this series.Despite a gallant stand of ninety-two for the third wicket between Stuart Carlisle (44) and Andy Flower (39), Zimbabwe never really looked like challenging the rival score. Let alone overhauling it. Carlisle and Flower responded attractively upon being joined in the fifth over after another poor Zimbabwean start. In composed style, they defied excellent new ball bowling from Damien Fleming (2/21 from six overs) and Glenn McGrath (1/26 off 6.5) before cutting loose against the pace of Nathan Bracken (0/25 from five) and, more specifically, the leg spin of Shane Warne (2/52 off ten).It was Flower who frustrated the Australian star early with some contemptuous reverse sweeping through the off side. But Carlisle was quick to join in. He hit two massive sixes over mid wicket in quick succession to have Warne looking unsettled at the bowling crease for one of the few times in recent memory.However, a dubious shot and a dubious decision soon had matters reverting to type again. Ironically, Flower was removed almost as soon as Steve Waugh had turned to another unlikely slow bowling option, left arm wrist spinner Bevan (1/25 from seven overs). He cut, in rash fashion, at a ball spinning well away and landed a comfortable catch in the hands of Symonds at point. Carlisle was far more unlucky, harshly adjudged lbw by Umpire Peter Parker after being struck in line with off stump by a Warne delivery that appeared to be turning even further away.And that was about the end of that. Another disappointing Zimbabwean batting collapse ensued around some valiant strokeplay from Viljoen (31) and Grant Flower (30) as Waugh threw the ball to Symonds (2/35 off eight overs) and medium pacer turned off spinner Ricky Ponting (1/12 from five) just for good measure. Paradoxically, it was Australia – delighting in its success at stumbling upon new strategies – which seemed the team more interested in staying on the field by then.

Uma Bharti sees no hurdles for India’s participation in ICC KnockOutThe Union Sports Minister Uma Bharti on Wednesday said in Ahmedabad that there would be no hurdles in India’s participation in the ICC KnockOut tourney next year. Talking to reporters, Bharti said the decision not to allow the team toparticipate in Sharjah was a collective decision of various ministries. Bharti denied that the Sports Ministry had unilaterally decided not to permit the Indian cricket team to participate in the triangular series.”Cricket is played for commercial considerations in Sharjah”, Bharti said. She added that other ministries like the External Affairs had also influenced the decision. Moreover, together with Singapore and Toronto, Sharjah was not recognised as a cricket venue by the ICC, she added. On the recent notice by the IT department to the BCCI seeking details, the sports minister said she was unaware of it.We have a very good seam attack: TendulkarFormer Indian captain and master player Sachin Tendulkar said he was in favour of the board’s decision to include seven seamers in the list of probables for the forthcoming tour against Zimbabwe. Talking to reporters in New Delhi, the batting maestro said “The ball in Zimbabwe might seam around and probably spinners will not be assisted by the wicket there, so it is better to have seamers in the attack.” Tendulkar, who was in Delhi to inaugurate a sport-goods showroom, said India could now boast of a “very good seam bowling attack”. He added”We have got a lot of youngsters who have experience at the international level and we can expect a good performance from them…I am sure we will have an even better attack in years to come.”On the recently concluded Australian tour, Tendulkar said “In the previous Australian series, I had scored 440 runs. This time I have scored 330 plus…So both the series were good for me personally. In the last six Test matches against Australia, I have scored three hundreds and four or five 50’s..It’s not a bad performance,” the star batsman said.On breaking milestones, the little master said “Once you have achieved something, obviously you feel proud of it and feel happy that after playing for so many years you have achieved some goals,” he said. On the youngsters, Tendulkar opined that “the junior players in the last series really played well. The Australian series was big one for all of us and the way youngsters like Shiv Sunder Das, Ajit Agarkar, Harbhajan Singh and Zaheer Khan performed is really commendable. They all contributed a lot to the team.”Marsh calls for high standard of wicketsThe BCCI consultant and former Australian coach Geoff Marsh on Wednesday said in New Delhi the quality of the three Test wickets that produced a fantastic series between India and Australia should hold good for all the wickets in the country if India were to excel in world cricket. “All the three wickets on which the Test matches were played during the recent Australian series were excellent. But every wicket in the country needs to be of a very high standard. It is also important that the trainees, selected for various zonal cricket academies for a two-month training stint, are provided with good wickets if good results are to be achieved,” Marsh said.Marsh, on a whistle-stop visit here, examined the pitch and interacted with the 20 trainees of the North Zone cricket academy undergoing practice at the Ferozeshah Kotla grounds. “The best 120 kids are undergoing training at academies all over the country – the results can only be good, to say the least. This is going to do a lot for Indian cricket,” Marsh said. The ex-Aussie opener said the boys were extremely fortunate to undergo training under former cricketers of great repute. “India is lucky to have former cricketers who have immense experience and knowledge of the game. The boys are really lucky to have this opportunity to interact with the best cricketers at the age of 16 or 17”. He said the boys must appreciate this and make full use of it. “They are already enjoying their training stint. They are very enthusiastic and I did not see them complain about anything.”ICC anti-corruption unit submits preliminary reportThe International Cricket Council’s (ICC)anti-corruption unit has submitted its preliminary report to Lord Griffiths, head of ICC’s code of conduct committee. Confirming that it has been submitted, an ICC spokesman said in London on Wednesday that Lord Griffith would now convene a panel to consider the report, which would be forwarded to the ICC board scheduled to meet here on June 15.The board would consider the confidential report on June 18, the spokesman said. He, however, said that details of the report would not be made officially known till then. According to sources, the scourge of match-fixing was still going on in international cricket and at least a couple of the matches in the recent one-day series between Pakistan and New Zealand might have been affected, quotes PTI.Sir Paul Condon, head of ICC’s anti-corruption unit said the probe into the match-fixing scandal would go beyond allegations made in India’s CBI report on bribery and corruption in the game. His team’s investigation would cover a “whole realm of charges not contained in the CBI report and it will expand to further material not in the public domain.”Sir Paul, who is currently in Sri Lanka as part of the world-wideinvestigation, said he would not be part of any cover-up. “I can assure you that our investigation will be independent. Nobody will be spared. Nothing will be kept from my inquiry,” he told journalists in Colombo. Condon said two ICC investigators, both former Scotland Yard detectives, would remain in Sri Lanka for a week to help the local cricketing authority conduct its own probe. Sir Paul will travel to Pakistan in a few weeks to monitor the inquiry there.

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.

Danish Kaneria, the Pakistan legspinner, has said he will seek clarification from the PCB on the reasons for his continued exclusion from the national squad. Kaneria was not included in the 30 probables for the 2010-11 World Cup. He had also been overlooked for Pakistan’s Test squad for their on-going tour of New Zealand.Kaneria was one of three players – the other two being Kamran Akmal and Shoaib Malik – who were asked to appear before the PCB’s inquiry committee in order to gain clearance to play for Pakistan. The players had to submit details of their bank accounts, assets and property holdings from the last three years to the committee. Pakistan had delayed the announcement of their 30-man World Cup squad till January 5 in order to complete their investigations of the three, but only Kamran was included in the preliminary list for the tournament.”I have asked my barrister Steve Haurigan to talk to the PCB and clear up this problem and the damage to my name,” Kaneria told . “He is in Karachi and has requested a meeting and is waiting for a reply from the PCB.”After a meeting with the board’s integrity committee on December 15, which he at the time described as “fruitful and positive”, Kaneria had said he was confident of returning to the national squad and was providing the board with whatever details they required.He stuck to his stance after being left out of the World Cup probables. “I fully cooperated with the PCB and submitted all the documents they wanted from me,” he said. “I am disappointed to be left out as I was also overlooked for the series against South Africa in the United Arab Emirates in October-November last year as well as the New Zealand tour.”Kaneria was actually in the original squad to play two Tests against South Africa in the UAE, but was told moments before he was about to leave for the airport that he hadn’t been cleared to play. The reason for his exclusion from the World Cup probables is not clear. “There is a lot of speculation in the media regarding clearance or otherwise of players by the integrity committee of the PCB,” Pakistan’s chief selector Mohsin Khan said. “The integrity committee has given its views on some players to the selection committee which has taken into consideration that input and has selected the 30 players for the World Cup.”The last ODI Kaneria played for Pakistan was in March 2007, so his exclusion from the World Cup could be because the selectors don’t see him as a limited-overs bowler. He was playing Tests for Pakistan, though, up until their controversial tour of England in July-August. Kaneria was the subject of a criminal investigation in August by Essex police over allegations that he was involved in spot-fixing during a county game. He was released without charge in September.Essex have not retained Kaneria for the 2011 season, but he says that is down only to financial reasons. “I have played my cricket clean,” he said. “After being cleared by police in England, Essex sent me a letter saying that because of the financial crunch they did not want my services after 2010.”Kaneria has taken 261 wickets in 61 Tests – the most by any Pakistan spinner in tests. He has been performing well in domestic cricket, having taken 38 wickets in eight matches in Division One of the Quaid-e-Azam Trophy.