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ESPNcricinfo’s player-by-player coverage of the 2012 IPL auction in Bangalore

ESPNcricinfo staff04-Feb-2012

Michael Clarke, nursing a sore hamstring himself, called the fielding effort horrible and said that Australia will need to be much better if they are to win matches in the rest of the competition

Sidharth Monga at the Adelaide Oval12-Feb-2012Australia were not switched on tonight. There were fumbles, there were missed direct-hits, there were poor throws, and India – who at times batted equally sluggishly – were let off the hook. Michael Clarke, nursing a sore hamstring himself, called the fielding effort horrible and said that Australia will need to be much better if they are to win matches in the rest of the competition.More than the others, there were three crucial moments where Australia slipped. Early on in MS Dhoni’s innings, Ricky Ponting fumbled before hitting the stumps at the non-striker’s end, allowing Dhoni ample time to make his ground. Then, with 29 to defend off 22 balls, Ravindra Jadeja was all but run out but for Ryan Harris’s poor throw from point. In the next over Dhoni was dead again, only for Clarke to miss a direct hit from an arm’s length.”I think it’s concentration more than anything,” Clarke said. “If you look at myself, Ricky Ponting and also Dave Warner, we fumbled a few balls tonight, and we are better than that. You can’t blame anyone else when you are not performing as well as you like. We just got to make sure we are concentrating, and we are ready for every ball. It [Adelaide Oval] is as nice a ground as anywhere in the world. It’s a beautiful outfield, very flat. We have no excuses for our performance tonight. We just weren’t good enough.”Clarke couldn’t say if this lack in concentration could be put down to fatigue from a long season, but he said he was not queuing up to rest. “It’s international cricket, another chance to play for Australia, and you want to perform every single time you do that,” Clarke said. “Has it been a long summer? Well it has been a great summer for us so far. I can only talk about me personally: I feel like I am hitting the ball sweet, I feel I am training hard, and I am really keen to play every game at the moment.”Like all the guys, no one wants to rest. It’s just about managing the workloads, and making sure we are putting guys on the park that we think can help us win the game, [that ones that] give us the best chance of winning the game. If there is a time that we feel boys are a little tired, we would do that [rest players] as we have done with Michael Hussey. It’s just about assessing the team.”Both of India’s win against Australia this season have come in games where Matthew Wade has been pushed down the order. Clarke joked this was the last time it had happened. “I think Wadey can play in both areas,” he said. “He is good against fast bowling and he is good at the top of the order, and he is good at the death and he has done that for Victoria. Just a bit of a change in the order. I thought we’d try something else tonight. Did it work? We did pretty well, we made 270, we could have made a few more runs. But that’s the way it goes.”Clarke and Australia have a big day on Monday. Clarke will have his sore hamstring scanned, and they have to select the team for the next few games. “I’ll probably have a scan tomorrow, and then we’ll go from there. It’s a little bit sore, I have just had some ice on it. Fingers crossed, hopefully everything is okay.”

Allan Donald, South Africa’s bowling coach, left New Zealand before the start of the third Test in order to get time off in a busy year

Firdose Moonda at the Basin Reserve 25-Mar-2012Allan Donald, South Africa’s bowling coach, left New Zealand before the start of the third Test in order to get time off in a busy year. Donald flew home on March 20, for what the team management has called “personal reasons” but no announcement was made to explain his departure.”It was always the plan when we left South Africa that Allan would leave during the third Test. The request came through before we left South Africa,” Mohammad Moosajee, the South Africa team manager, told ESPNCricinfo. “It’s always our plan to be flexible with team management.”Donald is involved in a travel-heavy year, which includes an IPL stint in India, tours to England and Australia and the World Twenty20 in September. Donald will meet up with the national team for the one-off T20 against India in Johannesburg on March 30 before his time at the Pune Warriors franchise, where he is the bowling coach. South Africa travel to England for two months from July, to the World T20 in Sri Lanka in September and to Australia in October.The players’ wives and girlfriends arrived in time for the second Test in Hamilton but Donald’s wife, Tina, did not accompany them. His two children are of school-going age and were unable to travel to New Zealand during the tour.

A patient unbeaten by Christi Viljoen took Namibia to a modest 154, but it proved enough in the end as the bowlers combined to shut Canada out in a low-scorer at the Wanderers Cricket Ground

ESPNcricinfo staff12-Apr-2012
ScorecardChristi Viljoen made a crucial 50•ICC/Helge SchutzA patient unbeaten by Christi Viljoen took Namibia to a modest 154, but it proved enough in the end as the bowlers combined to shut Canada out in a low-scorer at the Wanderers Cricket Ground. Sarel Burger and Craig Williams took three wickets apiece and led a combined bowling performance to bowl out Canada for 133.It was a game dominated by the bowlers. Canada’s Rizwan Cheema ran through the batting order to take 6 for 34. Namibia’s Burger and Ian Opperman added 52 for the second wicket but that turned out to be the highest stand of the innings as the middle order collapsed to Cheema. Viljoen’s unbeaten 50 included four fours and came off 88 balls. Cheema recorded his career-best figures to bowl out the hosts within 46 overs.Canada got off to a rocky start in their chase, losing four wickets for 33. Jimmy Hansra and Tyson Gordon put Canada’s chase on track with a stand of 60 for the fifth wicket. But Viljoen broke the stand when he had Hansra caught for 34. A double-strike by Bernard Scholtz, the left-arm spinner, left the visitors in deeper trouble at 98 for 7. Gordon and Rustam Bhatti gave Canada hope with a stand of 33, but Burger’s three-wicket burst gave Namibia the match.

Stephan Myburgh’s hard-hitting 77 laid the foundation for a thrilling one-run victory by Netherlands over Gloucestershire

06-May-2012
ScorecardStephan Myburgh’s hard-hitting 77 laid the foundation for a thrilling one-run victory by Netherlands over Gloucestershire. The opener made his runs off just 72 balls, with 11 fours and two sixes, as the visitors ran up 239 for 6 after losing the toss.Cameron Borgas, Mudassar Bukhari and Wesley Barresi lent positive support, while Ed Young returned 2 for 31 from eight overs.After falling behind the run rate, Gloucestershire rallied with a brilliant 72 not out off 51 balls from Benny Howell, only to fall agonisingly short as Pieter Seelaar picked up 4 for 42. The home side required 13 off the last over, bowled by Bukhari. Jon Batty hit a boundary, but with three needed to win off the final delivery Howell could manage only a leg-bye.Gloucestershire were left to rue their early batting, which saw them make only 87 for one off their first 20 overs. Alex Gidman, who opened with brother Will, took 69 balls to make 41 and when he was caught in the deep 141 runs were needed off just 16 overs.Howell, signed on a trial basis after being released by Hampshire, did his hopes of a contract no harm by hitting four fours and two sixes but could not quite pull off victory.Earlier, Myburgh had signalled his intent from the start, dispatching the second ball of the match from Will Gidman over midwicket for six. The 28-year-old left-hander went on to dominate an opening stand of 84 with Michael Swart reaching his half-century off 42 balls.Left-arm spinner Young made the breakthrough in the 14th over, bowling Swart playing across the line. Chris Dent followed up by having Peter Borren caught at mid-wicket but Myburgh helped take the total to 152 before also falling to Dent’s offspin.After Borgas and Tom Cooper fell, Barresi and Bukhari added 58 in quick time to boost the total before Barresi was bowled by the first ball of the final over from Ian Saxelby.

Australia fast bowler Clea Smith, 33, has announced her retirement from all forms of the game

ESPNcricinfo staff16-May-2012Australia Women fast bowler Clea Smith, 33, has announced her retirement from all forms of the game. Smith, who played her first international match against England Women 12 years ago, decided that it was “time to move on”.”I have had wonderful experiences through cricket, achieved more than I thought I ever could and it feels like there are now other things in life I want to do,” Smith said.Smith played only one Test, but represented Australia in 48 ODIs and 12 T20Is. Her last match for Australia was the final of the Quadrangular ODI Series against England in July 2011. She cited being a part of Australia’s successful ICC World Twenty20 campaign in 2010 and her domestic titles with Victoria Women as her favourite memories of her career.”The ICC World Twenty20 in Barbados was a surreal experience – going from thinking I wasn’t being picked to winning the final off the last ball was incredible.”The Women’s National Cricket League titles just meant the world to me, to win with the people you have shared blood, sweat and tears with every day,” said Smith, one of only three bowlers, along with Australia Women head coach Cathryn Fitzpatrick and team-mate Kristen Beams, to have taken a hat-trick in the WNCL.Smith acknowledged Fitzpatrick’s contribution to her career. “She has had an incredible influence on my entire career; her preparation showed me what I had to do to make it as a bowler.”Although undecided about the future, Smith was keen to maintain her relationship with cricket. “I would love to give back to the game, in what role that would be we will see.”James Sutherland, Cricket Australia CEO, said that Smith’s passion for the game and her experience would be missed. “I thank her for her commitment to Australian cricket over the last decade,” Sutherland said.

No play was possible on the final day of Durham’s County Championship match against Warwickshire at Chester-le-Street, denying the hosts the chance of their first win of the season.

08-Jun-2012
ScorecardNo play was possible on the final day of Durham’s County Championship match against Warwickshire at Chester-le-Street, denying the hosts the chance of their first win of the season.They were 227 ahead with three wickets standing in their second innings, but have now arrived at the halfway stage of their programme with only 36 points. At the same stage last season they had 139.While Durham coach Geoff Cook was delighted with the performance of Sunderland seamer Chris Rushworth, who took his maiden five-wicket haul, he also praised the bravery of nightwatchman Jamie Harrison: a 21-year-old Sedbergh School product who was sent in to perform the role in both innings and survived for 75 minutes in tough conditions on the third morning to make 23.Cook, who worked with the Harrison, a left-arm bowler, on his batting during the winter, said: “Jamie has a lot of character and he has enjoyed the opportunity to play at this level. There were questions about his batting 12 months ago but he has gone away and worked hard at it. He has some bravery and he has a defence now. He is also starting to put one or two shots together.”

South Africa enjoyed the type of day teams dream of which ended with England staggering on 102 for 4 after being overwhelmed by the insatiable hunger of two batsmen

The Report by Andrew McGlashan22-Jul-2012
Scorecard and ball-by-ball detailsMorne Morkel added to a wonderful day for South Africa by removing Kevin Pietersen•Getty ImagesSouth Africa enjoyed the type of day teams dream of which ended with England staggering on 102 for 4 after being overwhelmed by the insatiable hunger of two batsmen. Hashim Amla scored the country’s first triple century in Tests, building an overwhelming stand of 377 with Jacques Kallis, as South Africa amassed a lead of 252. The visitors then made major inroads into a dispirited England side who lurched to the close with a huge task ahead to leave The Oval with the series level.The first two sessions of the day were filled with Amla and Kallis earning themselves a place in the record books. Mostly those honours belonged to Amla who, after overtaking AB de Villiers’ 278 as South Africa’s highest innings, reached his triple century with a drive which brushed the fingers of a leaping fielder at cover. He barely put a foot wrong and looked as though he could have gone past Brian Lara’s 400 if the opportunity had presented itself.However, South Africa had a Test match to win. Graeme Smith surprised most people at the ground when he declared at tea, rather than giving England’s footsore bowlers and fielders another half an hour of drip-drip agony. Smith, though, knew his team were in an impregnable position and it was a show of attacking intent from the captain.Apart from a period on the first day, Smith has had a wonderful Test both with the bat and in the field, and his decision soon brought rich rewards. By the close Ian Bell and Ravi Bopara were clinging on, still facing a deficit of 150. An escape here would match anything achieved at Cardiff or Cape Town.With the eighth ball of the innings Vernon Philander – who again shared the new ball with Morne Morkel – found Alastair Cook’s outside edge with ball that nipped away to bring the first wicket of the day. By the 11th over, South Africa had as many wickets as England managed in 188 when Jonathan Trott, for the second time in the match, nibbled outside off stump when he could have left the ball. That gave Dale Steyn his first wicket after he had been brought into the attack much sooner than in the first innings.Kevin Pietersen’s brief stay in the middle was not one of his finest moments. A feature of how South Africa batted was that they were willing to give periods of time to the bowlers, but Pietersen wanted to impose himself from the start. When that method comes off it thrills; when it does not it will invite criticism.Pietersen played two well-timed pulls, one in front and one behind square, but also top-edged another over the keeper. He was then dropped at slip by Kallis when he flapped at a short delivery from Morkel and in his next over Pietersen managed to miss what was basically a straight ball as he was caught on the crease.The early breakthroughs made life much less pressurised for Imran Tahir and he proceeded to work over Andrew Strauss with a classy over from round the wicket. He located the footmarks to make one delivery spit and also skidded one past the outside edge. Then, in a flashback to England’s problems in UAE, Strauss was drawn into sweeping a wide delivery and the resulting top edge looped to square leg. Strauss had turned in disgust before the catch had been taken. This was not the first time an England captain had been humbled by a Smith-led team.This was the same pitch that, a few hours earlier, had produced a scoreboard that read 637 for 2. Amla and Kallis firstly ensured they played themselves in as Smith and Amla had done 24 hours previously. The first hour brought just 36 runs, but each demoralising over England spent in the field meant it was less likely they would be able to quell the onslaught once South Africa decided to switch gear. The second half of the session saw 75 runs added and a further 123 came between lunch and tea even without it feeling the batsmen went quite into top gear.Amla’s innings was a display of unyielding concentration and determination, yet he rarely lost his graceful touch until he became a little tense in the 290s. His driving continued to be the stand-out feature of the innings and even when England packed the off side he would calmly and carefully pierce the gaps with regularity.Kallis, who began the day on 80, batted at his own pace and reached his hundred from 227 deliveries with a glide to third man and immediately pointed to his eye, a clear reference to his team-mate, and close friend, Mark Boucher who was forced to retire early in the tour. The incident shook Kallis badly, but like many of the greatest sportsman he has channelled his emotions to the benefit of his team.It was also, notably, his first Test hundred in England since Old Trafford in 1998. This will be his final Test tour to the country and he appears determined to at least go some way to narrowing the gap between his record here and everywhere else. His partnership with Amla, to follow the 259 for the second wicket, was the highest third-wicket stand against England by anyone and meant it was the first time they had conceded two 250-run stands in the same innings.It was a sobering experience for the England attack. When James Anderson managed to swing a delivery with the third new ball past Amla’s edge the crowd gave him a warm round of applause. Early in the afternoon session all England’s frontline bowers went past their centuries, Stuart Broad completing the set when he was driven for three boundaries by Kallis who took the lead in upping the scoring rate while Amla focussed on his triple hundred.Broad had been off-colour throughout the innings and operated at no more than medium pace on the fourth day. Although that could partly be put down to conditions, England’s policy of a four-man attack means they cannot afford to carry any of their quicks especially with Graeme Swann proving ineffective as he sent down 52 wicketless overs, the most he had bowled in a Test innings. Since the start of the second day’s play they have looked anything but the world’s No. 1 team.

A defiant century from Phil Hughes helped Worcestershire stay in contention on the first day of their Championship match against local rivals Warwickshire.

George Dobell at Edgbaston08-Aug-2012
ScorecardChris Russell took a late wicket on his Championship debut•Getty ImagesA defiant century from Phil Hughes helped Worcestershire stay in contention on the first day of their Championship match against local rivals Warwickshire. Hughes became the first Worcestershire batsman to carry his bat since Stephen Moore did so on the same ground in 2008 and was one of only two men to pass 20 during a day in which 13 wickets fell.Perhaps Hughes felt he had unfinished business at Edgbaston. It was here ahead of the Edgbaston Test of 2009 that Hughes was dropped from the Australian Test team. Having had his weakness against the short ball mercilessly exposed by Andrew Flintoff, Hughes announced his omission on twitter, and has never fully nailed down a spot. In 23 subsequent Test innings he has passed 50 just three times.He had, until now, struggled to excel for Worcestershire, too. He had impressed in limited-overs cricket, but seven previous Championship innings had brought just two half centuries. Here he looked every inch a Test player. On a dry pitch that had been used for the previous night’s limited-overs game, Hughes dealt with a strong attack with impressive flair and composure.There was just one moment that hinted at his previous troubles against the short ball. In Boyd Rankin’s first over Hughes, on 40, edged a brute of a delivery that demanded a stroke but reared sharply only to see Tim Ambrose, the Warwickshire keeper, equally surprised by the pace and the ball elude him on its way to the boundary.Rankin lacked the consistency to exploit any weakness, however, and Hughes dealt with Jeetan Patel’s turn – and there was surprising turn for a day one pitch – Keith Barker’s swing – no easy task – and Chris Wright’s tight lines, pace and gradual movement with apparent ease. It was his first century since September last year.”It’s nice to get to three figures,” Hughes said afterwards. “I’ve not done it for a while. I didn’t play in the Big Bash as I had some technical things I wanted to work on and I didn’t make it on the Aussie A tour. But Worcestershire is a fantastic club to play for and I’m really enjoying playing in all three formats of the game.”The last couple of weeks have seen us playing on the quickest wickets I’ve seen this season and I’ve been tested by a few flying around my ears. But I feel I’m a better player now. I’ve had some ups and downs, but I’m only 23 so I have age on my side.”Worcestershire were grateful for his contribution. Having dropped Jack Shantry, Richard Jones and James Cameron from the team that were thrashed by Sussex, they brought in Chris Russell, Joe Leach and Brett D’Oliveria for their Championship debuts. They made 22 between them and Worcestershire lost their last five wickets for the addition of just seven runs in 46 balls. Hughes, unable to keep the strike, faced only eight of them.There was a time, when Vikram Solanki and Hughes were adding 124 together for the fourth wicket, when it appeared Worcestershire might set a far more challenging first innings total. Solanki, timing the ball as few can, produced some outrageously fine strokes: he got off the mark with a crunching pull off Rankin, before later driving the same bowler over extra-cover, slog-sweeping Patel and forcing Wright off the back foot. Batting looked almost too easy for him until he obligingly swung a slog-sweep directly to the man on the square leg boundary..None of their colleagues lingered for long. Daryl Mitchell, set up by away swing, was beaten by natural variation and missed a straight one; Matt Pardoe was drawn into wafting at one well outside off; Moeen Ali was surprised by Rankin’s pace and both Leach and D’Oliveria paid the price for feeling for deliveries outside off stump. Patel, after bowling poorly to start, cleaned up the tail, but was slightly flattered by his figures.Patel, the spinner recalled to the New Zealand squad for their tour of India, hopes to return to Championship duty ahead of Warwickshire’s penultimate match of the season against Worcestershire at New Road. It may be more realistic, however, to expect him back for the final game against Nottinghamshire.Worcestershire hit back in the dying minutes of the day. Russell, who impressed in the two-day match against South Africa and whose slingy action bears some resemblance to Graham Dilley and Chris Silverwood, worked up decent pace and bowled admirably straight in trapping Ian Westwood, stuck in the crease and playing across a straight one, leg before. At the other end Alan Richardson nipped one back into a half-forward Varun Chopra before William Porterfield was very well held at slip at tentatively prodding at one angled across him.Warwickshire have made a habit of rebuilding through their lower order this season, but are without Chris Woakes, who is on England Lions duty, while Jim Troughton was off the pitch for much of the day due to flu-like symptoms.

West Indies’ Stafanie Talyor has won the ICC Women’s Cricket of the Year award, while England’s Sarah Taylor took home the Twenty20 award

ESPNcricinfo staff15-Sep-2012West Indies’ Stafanie Talyor has won the ICC Women’s ODI Cricketer of the Year award. She beat her team-mate Anisa Mohammed, as well as the England pair of Sarah Taylor and Lydia Greenway to the award.In the Twenty20 category, England’s Sarah Taylor emerged the winner, beating Stafanie, and Australia’s Alyssa Healy and Lisa Sthalekar.In the assessment period, Stafanie Taylor played 13 ODIs, scoring 514 runs at the top of the order at an average of 46.72, and claiming 16 wickets with her offspin, at 13.12.”It was quite a shocker,” Stafanie Taylor told WICB Media. “I expected to win the Twenty20 Player of the Year award, rather than ODI Player of the Year. But I am very appreciative and it shows all the hard work that I have been putting into my game is bearing fruit.””I thought there were other players, like India’s Mithali Raj, who had better stats for the last year than I did. I thought I had better T20 stats, so I expected to have a better chance at winning the T20 Player of the Year award.”Stafanie, who was the Women’s Cricketer of the Year in 2011 too, was unable to attend the awards ceremony in Colombo due to playing commitments in the UK. “Thank you this award tonight,” she said. “I’d like to thank my family and friends for this award.”Wicketkeeper Sarah scored 340 runs in T20Is in the voting period, at an average of 48.57, while also claiming 11 dismissals, including seven stumpings. She too was unable to attend the function, as she is playing in England. “A massive thank you for this award,” she said. “I’d like to thank all my team-mates and family for their support and I’m thrilled to have won it, and I’m sorry I couldn’t be in Sri Lanka tonight to accept my award.”