All posts by h716a5.icu

It was with spin that Pakistan pinned them in May and it’s with spin again that India will strive to get them

Sriram Veera in Port of Spain05-Jun-2011Trouble looms large for West Indies against spin. It was with spin that Pakistan pinned them in May and it’s with spin again that India will strive to get them. West Indies’ captain Darren Sammy, however, was hopeful his batsmen would put up a better show against India in the ODI series, even though they struggled in the one-off Twenty20.Sammy based that belief on the experience gained by the West Indian batsmen against Pakistan’s spinners. He reckoned Harbhajan Singh would be easier to deal with because he doesn’t have the guile of Saeed Ajmal. “We should play Harbhajan better than we did against Pakistan. Ajmal was different. He was very difficult to pick because of his doosra. Harbhajan, in contract, is more orthodox and our batters should do well against him.”Ajmal and Mohammad Hafeez grabbed 12 of the 26 wickets that fell to bowlers in the five-ODI series and India have two offspinners as well, in Harbhajan and R Ashwin. Sammy took positives from the Twenty20 defeat against India, saying though his batsmen couldn’t score freely they showed they could keep their wickets.Sammy said that rotating the strike will be the key, a discipline he stressed on even against Pakistan. In Saturday’s Twenty20, there were 58 dot balls. “You can’t get bogged down. They [batsmen] have been working hard with Desmond Haynes,” he said. “Each individual will have his game plan and the focus should be to rotate the strike. You will have to sweep, use your feet, play with soft hands, all those things come into play.”Sammy was still irked by the fact that the pitches continue to be slow and spin-friendly in the Caribbean. “The tracks have slowed down in the last decade or so. We have seen the Indians struggle against bounce and pace in the past but we haven’t had wickets to suit us for some time now. There is little we can do about it. We have to play on the tracks that groundsmen produce”Sammy hoped the presence of Kieron Pollard, Dwayne Bravo and Ramnaresh Sarwan could improve the prospects of his team. “Everyone knows what Pollard can do. Bravo and Sars will add experience. Then there are the youngsters like Darren Bravo and Bishoo. Darren has the flair of Lara but he wants to make his own name, which is very good. He can be the next great West Indian batsman. He is working hard.”It’s the batting that Sammy is worried about. He is confident that his bowling attack can defend 250 against India on these tracks. That may be debatable but the real battle will be between West Indian batsmen v Indian spin.

Cricket Kenya has awarded Supersport the broadcasting rights for the East African Premier League and the East Africa Cup, their new domestic Twenty20 and 50-over tournaments, which will begin in July

ESPNcricinfo staff26-May-2011Cricket Kenya has awarded Supersport the broadcasting rights for the East African Premier League and the East Africa Cup, their new domestic Twenty20 and 50-over tournaments, which begin in July.Apart from live coverage of the entire tournaments, which end in the first week of October, the broadcaster will also put together weekly magazine shows with highlights, player profiles and features, a Cricket Kenya press release stated.Announced in early May, the new limited-overs competitions will include four Kenyan teams – two from Nairobi, and one each from Coast and Rift Valley – and two Ugandan sides. Nationally contracted players will be split between sides to ensure a fair balance, and there were plans to bring in overseas players from the subcontinent Cricket Kenya’s chief, Tom Sears, had earlier, told ESPNcricinfo.Each team will play ten games over weekends, with a Twenty20 match on a Saturday, followed by a 50-over contest on Sunday. The top four teams in each competition progress to the play-offs stage.

Katherine Brunt bowled England to a 34-run win in the final of the NatWest Women’s Quadrangular series with a career-best 5 for 18

ESPNcricinfo staff07-Jul-2011
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A fired-up Katherine Brunt bowled England to victory with a career-best 5 for 18•Getty ImagesKatherine Brunt bowled England to a 34-run win in the final of the NatWest Women’s Quadrangular series with a career-best 5 for 18 – her third five-wicket haul in one-day internationals – as England continued their successful run this summer.Australia had been impressive with the ball too, with Sarah Coyte picking up four top-order wickets, but England eventually reached 230 mainly thanks to Lydia Greenway’s fluent fifty and a rapid 43 from wicketkeeper-batsman Sarah Taylor.Brunt started Australia’s slide early, nipping out Meg Lanning and Leah Poulton in quick succession as their chase got off to a faltering start. Shelley Nitschke, playing in her final match for Australia, was denied a grand finish as she had her stumps rattled by Brunt, the third wicket falling with just 33 on the board.Alex Blackwell and the in-form Jess Cameron sparked something of a recovery, but when Isa Guha bowled Blackwell for 34 and left-arm spinner Holly Colvin picked up the big wicket of allrounder Lisa Sthalekar soon after, Australia were 80 for 5 and England in control.Cameron responded with some brutal batting that gave Australia hope, slamming eight fours and two sixes in a 77-ball 75. She took her team to within 80 runs of their target before Brunt returned and had her caught by Guha as England seized the ascendancy once again. Brunt had her fifth wicket when Coyte holed out to Arran Brindle, and England stormed to the win soon after.They hadn’t been quite so dominant with the bat, however, and needed to rebuild after Coyte got past both Danielle Wyatt and Laura Marsh to reduce England to 19 for 2 after they had lost the toss and been inserted in bowler-friendly conditions.Captain Charlotte Edwards and the experienced Claire Taylor slowly repaired the damage, grinding their way to a 36-run partnership before Edwards was trapped in front of her stumps by Sthalekar’s offspin for 31. England slipped once again when Taylor cut Nitschke to point with the score at 88, but Greenway and Sarah Taylor immediately set about the bowling with some enterprising batting.Greenway used the sweep to good effect and also cracked the only six of the innings over long-off as she and Taylor added 82 for the fifth wicket. Taylor fell before she reached fifty, and Greenway was eventually dismissed to give Coyte her fourth wicket, but Brindle slammed 27 from just 18 balls to boost England to what was ultimately a match-winning total.

Durham were frustrated by the weather on day three at Chester-le-Street, where only 12.2 overs were bowled in the Championship leaders’ Division One match against Nottinghamshire

04-Aug-2011
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Durham were frustrated by the weather on day three at Chester-le-Street, where only 12.2 overs were bowled in the Championship leaders’ Division One match against Nottinghamshire. Durham go into the final day on 37 for 2 in their second innings, leading by127 and are likely to find it difficult to set a target without risking defeat.After a delayed start only six overs were possible, Durham advancing from sixto 22 without loss, before another break. Play resumed at 2.50pm and in 6.2 overs they lost both openers. Will Smith was first to go when he hit a long hop from Charlie Shreck straight to Sam Kelsall at cover.Without further addition Gordon Muchall pushed forward and edged a good ball from Darren Pattinson to Chris Read. Paul Collingwood surprised Shreck by turning a straight ball behind square for four, then pulled Pattinson to the midwicket rope and top-edged an attemptedhook to fine leg for another boundary. He evidently intended to make up for some of the lost time, but was cut short by further rain, which proved terminal.Durham’s usual opener, Michael Di Venuto, is not expected to take any further part in the match because of a finger injury suffered in trying to take a slip catch. An X-ray has shown no break and the club remain hopeful he will be fit for Sunday’s Friends Life t20 quarter-final against Hampshire at the Rose Bowl.

Michael Clarke, the Australia captain, has admitted the decisions taken by CA on the basis of the Argus review released on Friday were a minor distraction in the lead-up to the fourth ODI

ESPNcricinfo staff20-Aug-2011Michael Clarke, the Australia captain, has admitted the Argus review and the decisions taken by Cricket Australia on Friday were a minor distraction in the lead-up to the fourth ODI but praised his side for displaying excellent character in difficult conditions to take the series against Sri Lanka. The removal of Andrew Hilditch as chief selector was one of the significant decisions taken on Friday, but Clarke said his team-members made a pact they weren’t going to talk about it going into the match.”No doubt it [the events on Friday] is some sort of a distraction but you face distractions everyday in your life; with what’s happening with your family, some of them have kids,” Clarke said after Australia beat Sri Lanka by five wickets to take an unassailable 3-1 lead in the five-match series. “There are always issues outside of the game that you face as a distraction. It’s up to us to determine how big a distraction it becomes. We left our meeting the other day and made a pact that we weren’t going to talk about it. We had an optional training session yesterday that every single player turned up for.”It looked like being a comfortable win for Australia after they bowled out Sri Lanka for 132, but Clarke said it took quite an effort to overcome the heat and was full of praise for his bowlers. “The character the boys showed in conditions that were as hot as I’ve experienced in any ODI around the world and to put in that kind of performance with the ball [was great].”We didn’t get wickets at the start of their innings but we bowled with really good discipline and in good areas. The wicket was a little bit two-paced and I thought our patience was the key with the ball today. It’s been a key to our success over here; we’ve got Sri Lanka out on three occasions.”Australia lost five wickets in the chase, including three in an over towards the end of the game, and Clarke singled out Shaun Marsh’s fluent 70 as the decisive contribution. “We knew the new ball would skid off the pitch and that with the old ball, they would get some reverse-swing and a bit of spin as well. Shaun Marsh played outstandingly and chased those runs down on his own in those conditions.”The star for Australia in their bowling was left-arm spinner Xavier Doherty, who bagged four wickets and was named Man of the Match. “After not taking as many wickets as I would have liked earlier on in the series, it was good to get some today,” Doherty said.”X is a very hard marker on himself and he’s done a magnificent job for us,” Clarke said. “Part of our success here has been the partnerships from the bowlers. Sometimes you bowl beautifully and get no wickets, but your mate at the other end does. On a couple of occasions this series, that’s what has happened to X.”If he keeps bowling the way he’s bowling, I see no reason why he can’t play Test cricket for Australia.”

The Trinidad board has said that it does not share the opinion of Daren Ganga, who suggested that in the future the country could break from West Indies cricket

ESPNcricinfo staff30-Sep-2011The Trinidad & Tobago Cricket Board (TTCB) has said that it does not share the opinion of team captain Daren Ganga, who suggested that in the future the country could break from West Indies cricket and attempt to become an international team on its own.”We do not share the view of Mr Ganga that the general public is in support of an independent national team in world cricket,” Azim Bassarath, the TTCB president, told . “We think this would be counterproductive to the rich legacy of West Indies cricket and a major setback to the efforts to restore the region to its former glory days as undisputed champions of the world for close to two decades.”We are justifiably proud that the T&T cricketers can compete at the highest levels of the game as a national team but we believe that they continue to form a significant and important component of West Indies cricket.”We remain committed to the ideal of West Indies as a truly regional representative team and the case for working together for the benefit of all the stakeholders in regional cricket is still relevant now as it was many years ago. There are problems we agree but a deterioration in the union is not something we will be party to.”Ganga had aired his views in an interview to ESPNcricinfo in Hyderabad, where T&T were qualifying for the main draw of the Champions League Twenty20.. “If we go on to do well on a global stage such as the Champions League, you are going to have public pressure being applied, where they think that a T&T team can fend on its own and has the opportunity to qualify on its own in the 50-over or the 20-over World Cup.”

Matthew Wade is looking forward to making the most of his big break, he just wishes it hadn’t arrived because of the wrong kind of break for his good mate Tim Paine

Brydon Coverdale29-Sep-2011Matthew Wade is looking forward to making the most of his big break, he just wishes it hadn’t arrived because of the wrong kind of break for his good mate Tim Paine. When Paine was ruled out of Australia’s upcoming Twenty20s in South Africa due to a fractured finger, Wade, 23, was the logical choice to take the gloves.As Victoria’s wicketkeeper over the past four seasons, Wade has made impressive progress in both his glovework and his batting, and was second on the Ryobi Cup run tally last summer. He had moved to Melbourne from Hobart when he realised that sneaking past Paine into the Tasmania side would be a very difficult task.Wade knew from personal experience just how good Paine was. The pair had known each other from their childhood days, when they competed in games of backyard cricket that became so serious that the loser had to go and buy fish and chips for everyone.”Tim and I grew up together, so I’m disappointed for him to have to go and get another operation on his finger,” Wade told ESPNcricinfo. “It’s devastating for him. But I’m really happy to take the opportunity. I know that he’s happy for me – I got a text from him and I know that he’s happy I got the opportunity.”By winning an international call-up, Wade has already beaten the odds. It has been notoriously difficult for glovemen to force their way into Australia’s team over the past couple of decades, with Ian Healy, Adam Gilchrist and Brad Haddin each monopolising the position during their respective eras.In the past 20 years, only nine specialist wicketkeepers have taken the gloves for Australia in any format, plus a few non-specialists like David Boon, Justin Langer and Jimmy Maher. During the same period, more than 50 fast bowlers, 40 batsmen and 20 spinners have played for Australia.”I’m really happy to get the chance to play for Australia,” Wade said. “It’s everyone’s dream. A lot of hard work goes into getting there. I’m just stoked that I’ve got my opportunity. Hopefully I can take it and things can go further from here.”A muscular left-hand batsman and a good keeper whose glovework has improved dramatically over the past four years, Wade is likely to slot in down the order for Australia. However, the highest score in his 27-match Twenty20 career – which included some IPL games for Delhi Daredevils this year – was 80 opening for Australia A.”I haven’t played a lot of Twenty20, it’s the least amount of games I’ve played out of the three forms,” Wade said. “But I feel like I’m getting better. I know my game very well now. I’m happy to get an opportunity in whatever form it is, and T20 I feel comfortable playing it and hopefully I can do the job.”There will be plenty of familiar Victorian faces in the Twenty20 side with Wade, including the captain – and selector – Cameron White, the batsmen Aaron Finch and David Hussey, and the fast bowler James Pattinson. The two Twenty20s in Cape Town and Johannesburg on October 13 and 16 will be followed by three ODIs and two Tests.

Shane Warne is expected to announce his signing with the Melbourne Stars in this summer’s Twenty20 Big Bash League

ESPNcricinfo staff04-Nov-2011Shane Warne is expected to announce his signing with the Melbourne Stars in this summer’s Twenty20 Big Bash League.After a period of doubt about what part Warne would play in the BBL, has reported that Warne will be unveiled as a signing with the Stars next week. It is understood he will be available for all seven games.While the Stars are at pains to suggest that no official deal has yet been struck, Warne’s return to the Australian summer at the age of 42 was always likely to be for the team that will play its home matches at the MCG.”We understand through Shane Warne’s Management that he is still considering offers from several teams, including the Melbourne Stars,” the Stars chief executive Clint Cooper said in a statement. “We anticipate a decision as to which team Shane will play for after detailed consideration of all offers within the next week.”Warne’s manager, James Erskine, has said that there were plenty of considerations for any decision.”He went out on the ultimate high in Australia, taking 700 wickets, winning the Ashes. He’s as fit as he’s ever been and he believes he is still one of the top spin bowlers in the world but he is 42 and realises if he plays there is a certain amount of hype and media attention that comes with that,” Erskine told .”One of the advantages would be that his kids are now old enough to watch him play which they might not have been before. There is a plethora of things to weigh up.”Another former Australia spinner, Brad Hogg, has announced his participation in the BBL, signing on with the Perth Scorchers at the age of 40. Hogg retired from cricket in February 2008.”I’m a WA boy and really looking forward to being part of the very first Perth Scorchers side for the KFC T20 Big Bash League,” Hogg said. “I’ve been training hard and playing a bit of District cricket the past few years, and I would not be taking on this challenge if I didn’t believe that I could have an impact for the Scorchers.The Scorchers’ coach, Mickey Arthur, described Hogg as a “three-in-one” player.”Hoggy is another of what I would term a three-in-one cricketer as he offers us outstanding skills with the bat, the ball, and in the field,” Arthur said. “Even though he turned 40 this year he has still been playing regularly and performing well at WACA District level, and the manner in which he plays and trains belies his age.”

Sanath Jayasuriya, the former Sri Lanka captain, has said Sri Lanka need to maintain faith in their young side and new captain despite the team’s recent rough patch

Umar Farooq in Abu Dhabi 24-Nov-2011Sanath Jayasuriya, the former Sri Lanka captain, has said Sri Lanka need to maintain faith in their young side and new captain despite the team’s recent rough patch. Since reaching the final of the 2011 World Cup, Sri Lanka have lost one-day and Test series in England, at home to Australia and against Pakistan in the United Arab Emirates. Jayasuriya admitted results had been disappointing but said Sri Lanka were in transition since they have a new captain in Tillakaratne Dilshan, a new coach in Geoff Marsh and several young players in the squad.”It’s a bit disappointing to lose both the series,” Jayasuriya said after the losses in the UAE. “It would have been ideal had we won at least one series. However, Sri Lanka are playing a number of youngsters so you need to give them some time. You can’t keep changing the side. There are quite a few senior players and when they retire you need players who are already groomed to replace them.”These are hard times for Sri Lankan cricket but we have talented players; the only thing they need is time, and we need to put faith in them and give them confidence.”Dilshan, who took over as captain from Kumar Sangakkara after the World Cup, has struggled to reproduce the form he showed in that tournament. Since the World Cup, he has averaged 17.43 with the bat in 16 ODIs, while in Tests he has averaged 24.81 over the previous two series. Jayasuriya backed Dilshan to come good and said he needed to be persisted with as captain.”He [Dilshan] is a great player and we all have seen what he can do, but unfortunately he is going through a lean patch, so we need to have faith in him. He has just got the job and anybody who takes the captaincy needs time.”Since the retirement of Muttiah Muralitharan last year, Sri Lanka have had an inexperienced bowling attack, but it was the batting that let them down in the UAE. Jayasuriya said the batsmen were not aggressive enough in the Test series and lamented the fact that none of the batsmen lent support to Sangakkara, who waged a lone battle, scoring 516 runs in the Tests. Sri Lanka’s second-highest run-getter in the series was Tharanga Paranavitana with 195 runs.”In the Tests, there were times when we did not look for runs and got bogged down,” Jayasuriya said. “You need to have a decent run-rate to win a Test. The only batsman in form was Kumar Sangakkara but you need three or four batsmen to be among the runs. I didn’t see others chipping in with runs and that’s what Sri Lanka lacked.”Sri Lankan cricket has been in a serious financial crisis since spending a total of five billion rupees ($46 million) on stadiums for the World Cup. As a result the players have not been paid their salaries in the last six months, but Jayasuriya said that was not something that would affect their on-field performances.”The previous board made a lot of mistakes and are responsible for this mess, and then the earlier interim committee made things worse. It is disappointing [not to be paid]. But when you play for your country you forget everything and that is what the players are doing. I am happy that they have not spoken about that.”Upali Dharmadasa, the chairman of Sri Lanka Cricket’s interim committee, had said he was hopeful the players would be paid after the series in the UAE since SLC were expecting to receive the remaining payments of around US$ 4.3 million from the ICC for hosting the 2011 World Cup shortly.Sri Lanka will play a one-off Twenty20 international against Pakistan in Abu Dhabi on November 25 and then go to South Africa in early December to play three Tests and five ODIs.

Trevor Bayliss, the former Sri Lanka coach, has been named as Kolkata Knight Riders’ new head coach, replacing Dav Whatmore

ESPNcricinfo staff03-Jan-2012Trevor Bayliss, the former Sri Lanka coach, has been named as Kolkata Knight Riders’ new head coach, replacing Dav Whatmore who stepped down two days ago.”We are pleased to welcome Trevor Bayliss as our head coach,” Shah Rukh Khan, co-owner of the Knight Riders, said in a press release. “With his rich experience, very successful track record and knowledge of the conditions in the subcontinent, we believe he is the right person to take KKR to the next level of performance.”Bayliss, 49, will be the third coach of the Knight Riders, after John Buchanan and Whatmore. “I have followed the IPL and KKR’s performance and I am honored to become part of this team,” Bayliss said, “which has already built a reputation as a very popular & professional franchise.”Bayliss had been in charge of the Sri Lankan team for four years before resigning following their run to the 2011 World Cup final. He had also guided them to the final of the World Twenty20 in 2009. As coach of New South Wales until 2006-07, he helped the Blues win a Pura Cup title as well as a domestic one-day trophy. He isn’t new to the world of Twenty20 franchise cricket either, and is currently in charge of the Sydney Sixers in the Big Bash League tournament in Australia. The BBL appointment came after he missed out to Anthony Stuart on a mentoring assignment with the New South Wales team.