All posts by n8rngtd.top

The Warriors and the Lions, the two South African franchises who competed in last year’s Champions League Twenty20, have confirmed they have not received their prize money from the tournament

Firdose Moonda31-Jan-2011The Warriors and the Lions, the two South African franchises who competed in last year’s Champions League Twenty20, have confirmed they have not received their prize money from the tournament. The amount, totalling US$ 1.5 million for both franchises, was due to be paid out on the last day of January.”We have not received any notification of the money yet,” Cassim Docrat, chief executive of the Lions told ESPNcricinfo. “We understand that it takes a while to reconcile everything although we were told that the money would be paid at the end of the month.”Signs of a delay in the processing became evident last Tuesday at the launch of the Standard Bank Pro20, the competition which produces South African’s two CLT20 candidates. Alviro Petersen was asked if he was enjoying his CLT20 money, to which he replied, ‘I’m still waiting for my wallet to fill up.”At the time, both Docrat and Dave Emslie, chief executive of the Warriors franchise, were not concerned about the non-payment, because they expected the money to arrive by the end of the month. “The tournament ended in September and we think it’s a very acceptable time period for payment to be made,” Emslie said.The Federation of International Cricketers’ Associations’ (FICA), however, disagrees. “It’s simply unacceptable that three of the most financially affluent cricket boards in the world can seemingly sit on their hands for four months with no apparent sense of obligation to pay this prize money in a timely manner,” Tim May, FICA’s chief executive, said. The CLT20 is jointly owned by the BCCI, CSA and CA and the total prize money owed by them totals US $6 million.May said that FICA has been told that payment “may be made in late January or early February.” He added that participation fees, which were due to be paid no more than 20 days after completion of the event on September 26, 2010, had also not been paid. “We will be assessing our various options regarding recovery of these outstanding amounts for the 2010 event should the monies not be received within the next couple of weeks.”The two South African franchises will receive notification from CSA when the money is successfully transferred from India. On receipt, it will be divided among all six local franchises. The Warriors, who reached the final of the CLT20, will be awarded the biggest share. Despite their imminent riches, Warriors captain Davy Jacobs is in no hurry to receive his cheque. “We will get it at some stage. The later, the better,” he said. “By then we would have forgotten all the silly things we want to do with it and will spend it properly.”

Canada’s captain Ashish Bagai has praised his side’s bowling and fielding effort against Pakistan, but said the bastmen could not execute the plans of playing their natural games and seeing off Shahid Afridi

Osman Samiuddin at the Premadasa Stadium 03-Mar-2011The status of Wayne Gretzky as the most famous Canadian sportsman of all time would not really have been threatened by Ashish Bagai and his men had they pulled off an Irish – to use the current slang – but dear Lord it would have made them famous. For 83 overs, they threatened a result that would have surpassed even Kevin O’Brien’s heroics on Wednesday night in Bangalore for shock value; one that would not have been dissimilar to Ireland’s other big World Cup win, three years and 50 weeks ago.The instant Shahid Afridi won the toss and chose to bat, under dirty grey skies on a dirty brown surface, Jamaica ’07 entered the room. It was a good toss to lose, Bagai said later, the groundsman having told him it was a bowl-first wicket. And Canada were tremendous, more so given they lost a frontline bowler in Khurram Chohan early. The spirit of Ireland and Bangalore was still floating around in the morning, Bagai said. “It gave us all a little belief in the morning.”At the centre was a quite outstanding spell of precisely the kind of right-arm medium dibbly-dobblers that so often trumps a top side in these conditions. Harvir Baidwan has a reputation for taking wickets and you can kind of see why; his pace is seductively friendly and the lengths are generally full so that batsmen will take chances. Ahmed Shehzad fell for it, and Younis Khan was duped by a lovely curving ball. Two overs to Umar Akmal and Misbah-ul-Haq deserved much more than just one maiden.Harvir Baidwan’s dibbly-dobblers posed serious problems for Pakistan’s batsmen in the conditions•AFP

There was support as well: a lovely hand from the podgy Balaji Rao, who put in a pleasing, unhurried spell of legspin; Rizwan Cheema and Jimmy Hansra more than chipped in as well, leaving their captain satisfied with the overall effort in the field. “Keeping them to 184 on that wicket was a tremendous effort especially after losing one of our key bowlers in the first couple of overs. The six bowlers did a fantastic job and it was a decent fielding effort.”Canada’s problems lie most squarely with their batting. They’ve now scored 122, 123 and 132 in three games. And it’s been fragile enough to sense that even when they were sneaking along at 104 for 3 in the 34th, one wicket could change the game. Until then Zubin Surkari and Jimmy Hansra had been just the men for the job, chancing it and milking it. When Ireland took off in pursuit of 133 in Jamaica, though, and even on Wednsesay night, despite losing wickets, there remained a robustness and calm about them that, to the disappointment of Bagai, was absent in Canada’s performance in Colombo.”The wicket was getting better and better which is very unusual for this wicket. The game plan was to just be positive and because the batting has been a worry, we said we would just play our natural games. A couple of youngsters opened the batting and we said play your natural games and the same for the rest of us. We had a decent partnership in the middle, a couple of good ones, but Shahid [Afridi] came on and he was the difference between the two teams. Our batting worries continue. It’s very disappointing because I thought we had a good chance of putting in a shock performance and getting back on track but that wasn’t to be.”Afridi, especially, looked as if he might pose fatal problems; his bowling is, these days, a handful against most sides but against the Associates he is an entire truckload of trouble. There was a plan in place, Bagai said; the kind sides put out against Muttiah Muralitharan, but plans look best on paper. “We’re very disappointed one guy ran through the batting order. We started off with the approach of trying to milk him for 30 to 35 runs, but once he gets wickets he gets right on top of you and he gets very confident. He gets his variations going and then it gets harder and harder and we were just not good enough today.”They weren’t, but only just. “That’s sport, that’s cricket, you’ve got to pick yourself up. At the end of the day it is sport,” Bagai said. It can be a cruel one.

Jamaica became only the second side to capture four successive four-day regional championships

ESPNcricinfo staff10-Apr-2011
Scorecard
Nikita Miller helped Jamaica earn their fourth title in a row•Getty Images

Jamaica made it four four-day Regional Championships in a row with a comfortable 8-wicket win over Combined Colleges & Campuses inside two days at the Three Ws Oval in Bridgetown. Having taken a 113-run first-innings lead, Jamaica’s spinners, Nikita Miller and Odean Brown, triggered a spectacular collapse after CCC had reached 56 for no loss. Miller began the slide by bowling Romel Currency for 23, after which CCC proceeded to lose their next nine wickets for 63 runs in less than two sessions.Miller ended up with 4 for 33, the day’s best figures, while Brown took 4 for 54 to go with 3 for 34 in the first innings, earning the Man-of-the-Match award. West Indies allrounder Andre Russell took the other two wickets.Jamaica, who had begun the day on 106 for 3, were bowled out for 225 with captain Tamar Lambert top scoring with 41. It was the spinners who did the damage for CCC as well, with offspinner Ryan Austin taking four for 81 and left-arm spinner Kavesh Kantasingh 4 for 89.The only other team in history to win four consecutive titles in regional first-class cricket was Barbados when they won the Shell Shield from 1977 to 1980.”This is a tremendous result for us as a team and for our nation Jamaica,” captain Tamar Lambert said after collecting the Headley/Weekes trophy. “From the start of the season we said we were looking to make it four straight and we did it in style here today. We proved we are the strongest team. We all worked hard and we played well together as a unit. I always stress on team unity and I’m happy the guys played well and won the trophy.”

Kevin Pietersen has expressed his desire to captain England again in limited overs cricket

ESPNcricinfo staff20-Apr-2011Kevin Pietersen has expressed his desire to captain England again, saying he had given the option serious thought since rumours emerged that Andrew Strauss may give up the limited-overs post. More than two years have passed since the end of Pietersen’s brief and tempestuous reign as England captain, and he has now stated his readiness to have another crack at the role, at least in ODIs.”If the one-day job becomes available, I would ­definitely be up for it,” Pietersen said at the launch of the new England ODI shirt. “A lot of water has passed under the bridge since I last did it and it’s something I’ve thought about in the past few weeks since the rumours surfaced about Andy Strauss stepping down.”Second time around I think I could do a real good job as I’d be older and wiser, and would handle a few things a lot differently. I didn’t think I was too bad first time around – we had our moments against South Africa, and it took a century of freakish brilliance from Sachin Tendulkar to deny us a famous Test win in Chennai.”So if the opportunity came up and I was asked I would say, ‘Thank you very much, I would love to have another go’.”Pietersen is the second England player to throw his hat into the ring for the job, should it become available, after the opening batsman Alastair Cook made similarly hopeful noises last week. Reflecting on the circumstances of his departure from the job in January 2009, Pietersen said he had been hurt, but has now moved on. He also said there would be no problem forming a strong leadership axis with the England coach, Andy Flower.”I wasn’t too despondent about why it ended, or even how it ended, but I was certainly hurt by some of the negative publicity which followed. Some of the nonsense about a divided camp, and players being for or against me, was deeply hurtful and it took me a while to get over it,” said Pietersen.”But time’s a great healer and I’m ready to do it again if the opportunity arose. I respected Andy Flower as a player, and as a coach I respect him more than ever now.”He’s done an amazing job since he took over and he deserves all the plaudits. He has moulded the team in a very respectful manner, in an atmosphere where everyone is entitled to voice an opinion – whether you have played 100 Test matches or just one. It’s a happy ship, Andy keeps it on a very even keel, and my ­relationship with him is absolutely fine – both on a technical level and as a person.”

Sachin Tendulkar and Ambati Rayudu took Mumbai to 159, a gettable score on this pitch, but not against an attack as ruthless as their’s

The Bulletin by Nitin Sundar02-May-2011
Live scorecard and ball-by-ball detailsAmbati Rayudu played some big shots in his half-century•AFP

If Sachin Tendulkar doesn’t get you, Ambati Rayudu will. If Lasith Malinga doesn’t get you, Harbhajan Singh will. Unfortunately for Kings XI Punjab, all four men were on top of their game today, and the rest of the Mumbai Indians XI was ruthlessly efficient. Tendulkar played within himself, Rayudu launched the occasional sortie and the middle order kept up the momentum to lift Mumbai to 159. It was a gettable target on this pitch, but not against this attack.Harbhajan and Malinga cracked open the game in their opening spells. Harbhajan nailed Adam Gilchrist on the sweep in the opening over, before Malinga put Paul Valthaty in his place with an over of pace-bowling brilliance. He began with a full ball that was through Valthaty in a blink. The second was a swerving full toss at 144.5 kph that Valthaty barely managed to get bat to. The third was faster, and Valthaty nervously glanced to fine-leg, but he was back on strike for the last two. Malinga let him have two short balls; Valthaty did not pick the first one, and missed a feeble attempt at a pull off the second. Valthaty, clearly outclassed, was stunned into his shell and Punjab never recovered.Tendulkar smelled blood, and went for all-out attack. Malinga bowled with two slips, while Harbhajan trotted in with a slip and a silly point. Valthaty continued to struggle, but Shaun Marsh managed to sneak a couple of boundaries off Malinga. Abu Nechim kept the pressure on Valthaty, who was so late on a pull in the fifth over that he ended up playing it uppishly to cover. Cover is not where a pull shot should go, neither is it the place for Munaf Patel to field: he grassed the catch, tumbling forward. Unfortunately for Punjab, that was the only fielding error from Mumbai.After dawdling to 8 off his first 24 balls, Valthaty eventually found respite against the back-up bowlers. He carted T Suman and Andrew Symonds for sixes, but holed out soon after. Marsh was in his groove by then, charming a Munaf half-volley for four and clattering a half-tracker from Nechim to midwicket, but he needed someone to hold up the other end.Mumbai ensured that did not happen: David Hussey was held spectacularly at long-on by Rohit Sharma, who hurtled forward and dived full-length. Dinesh Karthik was trapped in front by Kieron Pollard, and Abhishek Nayar allowed the entry ‘c Symonds b Harbhajan’ to enter the scorecard. Malinga tied up the loose ends in his second spell.Earlier, Mumbai were efficient rather than excellent with the bat, as Punjab’s spinners held them back in an attritional first half. Punjab were clearly looking to capitalise on Tendulkar’s weakness against left-arm spin, when they opened the attack with Bhargav Bhatt. Bipul Sharma took over for the third over, and struck with his unusual trajectory from well wide of the crease. Davy Jacobs was lazy leaning out to one of those deliveries, and turned his wrists too early as the ball slipped through to hit the stumps. The early dismissal forced Mumbai to rebuild cautiously, and the left-arm gambit had paid off though Tendulkar hadn’t fallen for it.Rayudu attempted to break free with a couple of against-the-spin heaves, while Tendulkar skipped inside the line to sweep Bhatt over deep square leg, but Mumbai showed their first real sign of intent only in the 12th over of the innings. As always, Praveen Kumar was cannon fodder once the shine disappeared from the ball, and Rayudu clubbed him for two fours and a six off consecutive balls. Punjab did not help their own cause, dropping Rayudu twice in two balls. The second a comical error in judgement from Ryan Harris at long-off, that allowed Rayudu reach his half-century.Rayudu and Tendulkar fell soon after getting to their half-centuries, but Pollard ensured there was no let-up, smashing two sixes and in the process increasing his tournament tally by a factor of five. His closing surge, aided by Rohit, took Mumbai to a score that Punjab would have fancied chasing, but Malinga and Co. had other plans.

Luke Wells and Murray Goodwin both made centuries as Yorkshire’s decision to put Sussex in badly backfired

29-May-2011
ScorecardLuke Wells and Murray Goodwin both made centuries as Yorkshire’s decision to put Sussex in on the first day of their County Championship tussle at Hove badly backfired. Wells enhanced his reputation as one of the best young batsmen in the country with his third hundred in only his eighth Championship game, while Goodwin scored his second century of the season as Sussex closed on 295 for 2.Yorkshire skipper Andrew Gale probably felt a pitch with an even covering of grass would assist his seam attack and Ajmal Shahzad, who is one of the contenders to replace James Anderson in the England squad for the Lord’s Test, did take the scalp of the in-form Chris Nash in the ninth over with one which nipped back.Wells was only opening because Nash’s regular partner Ed Joyce is playing for Ireland. Joyce is due back in time for the third day and his nominated substitute, Joe Gatting, struggled to take his chance.Gatting failed to score off 40 of the 44 balls he faced before he drove loosely at Steven Patterson and was well caught by the diving Joe Sayers at cover. But that was as good as it got for Yorkshire.Wells, briefly becalmed before lunch, reached his 50 with a cover-driven boundary off Patterson and during the afternoon session he and Goodwin made serene progress. Wells had one alarm on 79 when he was knocked off his feet by Ryan Sidebottom’s yorker but umpire Richard Kettleborough adjudged the ball was sliding down the leg side.The 20-year-old left-hander reached his century off 198 balls with successive boundaries when leg-spinner Adil Rashid obligingly dropped short and added seven more boundaries after that. He will resume on 143, having so far faced 286 balls and hit 23 fours.Goodwin lost little in comparison to his partner although he did have one alarm on 49 when he edged between the two slips off Patterson. Otherwise Sussex’s vice-captain looked in total control, feasting when he bowlers dropped short to play his favourite back-foot shots.He reached his 46th hundred for the county, in 217 balls, with his 13th boundary in the final over of the day and so far the third-wicket pair have added 217 in 71 overs.Sussex are giving Championship debutants to two South Africans. Left-armer Wayne Parnell only arrived at 6.30am on an overnight flight from Johannesburg to replace Pakistan’s Rana Naved as overseas player, while all-rounder Kirk Wernars, who qualifies because of his Dutch passport, was also included.

Stuart Broad, the England fast bowler, has been fined 50% of his match fee for showing dissent towards an umpire’s decision during the second ODI against Sri Lanka

ESPNcricinfo staff03-Jul-2011Stuart Broad, the England fast bowler, has been fined 50% of his match fee for showing dissent towards an umpire’s decision during the second ODI against Sri Lanka after using “unacceptable and offensive” remarks at Billy Bowden.He was found guilty of a Level 2 breach of Article 2.2.1 of the ICC Code of Conduct. Broad admitted to the offence after it had been brought to the match referee Alan Hurst’s notice by the on-field umpires, Bowden and Richard Kettleborough. There was no need for a hearing and he was promptly fined.”The charge related to an incident in the final over of the Sri Lanka innings when Broad appealed for an lbw [against Jeevan Mendis], which was turned down. As he left the field he made some unacceptable and offensive remarks to umpire Bowden about that decision,” an ICC statement said.”Accepting an umpire’s decision is an essential feature of cricket and part of the game’s unique spirit,” Hurst said. “Stuart’s behaviour was not acceptable in any form of cricket, and as a well-established member of his country’s national side and current captain of the Twenty20 international team, he must take responsibility for what he says and does.”All Level 2 breaches carry a minimum penalty of a fine equivalent to 50% of a player’s match fee up to a maximum penalty of a suspension for two ODIs or two Twenty20 internationals or one Test.This isn’t the first time Broad has been fined for a disciplinary breach. He had to forego 50% of his match fee after hurling a ball at Pakistan wicketkeeper-batsman Zulqarnain Haider during the Edgbaston Test last year.It also comes little more than a week after Broad admitted his captaincy of the World Twenty20 team means he’ll have to be on his guard.”I’ll certainly be watching my behaviour, but to be fair I think those occasions have become rarer and rarer in the last year,” he said. “But I’m certainly not going to lose my passion for the game, I think it’s something I thrive on.”You always have to be aware of what you are doing. I think it will be pretty hectic and I’ll have to be thinking about a lot of things. But the key is when I get the ball in my hand I don’t change much, have a presence and deliver my skills.”

Pakistan fast bowlers Mohammad Talha and Sohail Khan have said they have made significant improvements to their game at the ongoing emerging players camp in Lahore

ESPNcricinfo staff15-Jul-2011Pakistan fast bowlers Mohammad Talha and Sohail Khan have said they have made significant improvements to their game at the ongoing two-week emerging players camp being held at the National Cricket Academy in Lahore.Talha, whose only Test cap for Pakistan came in the game that was unfortunately abandoned due to the attack on the Sri Lanka team bus, said the camp was helping him correct some of his mistakes. “Camps like this should take place more often, to give bowlers a fair opportunity to rectify their mistakes and enhance their ability,” Talha told the . Sarfraz Nawaz, the former Pakistan fast bowler and now mentor at the camp, had said he was impressed with Talha but there were some problems with his follow through. Talha said he had benefited from Sarfraz’s advice.”Sarfaraz Nawaz has given us various tips which will help us improve. I hope to be considered for the national side when I sign off from the camp, as I want an opportunity to prove myself.”Sohail was also optimistic about his chances of getting back into the Pakistan squad. He, like Talha, has played only one Test for Pakistan, in which he failed to pick up a wicket. Sohail put his poor debut down to fitness concerns and said the camp had helped him grow stronger. “Many players have faced similar situations in the past, but the coaches at the camp are helping me get fully fit through various useful methods. I am now 100% fit to play international cricket.”Sohail also said he could benefit from the recent rule-change in ODIs mandating the use of two new balls, one from each end. “I have been bowling a lot faster with a new ball. In fact, I have always preferred to use a new ball, as reverse swing has never been one of my priorities.”Pakistan’s next assignment is a tour to Zimbabwe beginning in August after which they host Sri Lanka in the UAE. Sohail, who was the leading wicket-taker in the recently concluded Faysal Bank Super Eight T20 Cup, and Talha, who had an impressive first-class season, will both be on the selectors’ radar.

A watered-down version of the UDRS will be used in the England-India series with both sides agreeing to not use the system for lbw decisions

ESPNcricinfo staff20-Jul-2011A watered-down version of the Decision Review System (DRS) will be used in the England-India series with both sides agreeing to not use the system for lbw decisions. A day before the first Test starts at Lord’s, the ICC announced that infra-red technology and stump microphones will be part of the DRS – though not for lbw decisions – but not ball-tracking.This meets the minimum standards for DRS usage stipulated by the ICC at its annual conference last month but the decision to do away with reviews of lbw decisions could lead to anomalies. For example, if a batsman is given out to a bat-pad catch, he can get the verdict reviewed and if it is overturned because there is no bat involved, the fielding side has no recourse to an lbw appeal.The two captains didn’t play up the issue at their pre-match press conferences. Andrew Strauss praised the overall efficacy of the full DRS but said the “half-way house” would have to do. “I don’t think it’s ideal but that’s the situation we are faced with. For us as players to be overly concerned about it would be unhelpful.”His counterpart MS Dhoni has been one of the more vocal critics of ball-tracking technology and appeared more satisfied with the decision. “We’re not really convinced 100 per cent as of now when it comes to the tracking system, especially with the spinners and the kind of bounce the ball generates so until we’re 100 per cent satisfied we won’t go on with it. But of course we are quite happy with Hotspot. I feel that’s a very good technology to be used.”An ICC statement said the ECB wanted to include ball-tracking technology (such as Hawk-Eye or Virtual Eye) but the Indian board didn’t.”While we are disappointed that the full DRS will not be used to support the umpires, we are pleased that the ECB and BCCI have worked hard to ensure the minimum DRS is used in this much anticipated series,” ICC chief executive Haroon Lorgat said.”It is common knowledge that the ICC and ECB would have liked ball tracking to have been included so that LBW decisions could have also been reviewed, but the last Chief Executives Committee and Board meeting in Hong Kong agreed to independently confirm the accuracy of ball-tracking technology. This will now take place as a matter of urgency.”The Indian board has long been averse to the DRS and had announced last month that it didn’t want the system to be used in the England series. A compromise on the DRS was thrashed out at the ICC’s annual conference later in the month. The series against England will be the first time India will be using the review system in Tests since 2008.

Gautam Gambhir, the India opening batsman, could miss the solitary Twenty20 international against England in Manchester on August 31

Nagraj Gollapudi28-Aug-2011Gautam Gambhir, the India opening batsman, could miss the solitary Twenty20 international against England in Manchester on August 31. Gambhir had a light batting session during India’s optional training at Grace Road, but informed team management that he was not able to clearly sight the ball on a few occasions.”He said that he could not see the ball at times when it came at full speed,” Shivlal Yadav, Indian team manager, told ESPNcricinfo. “He will be taken to an eye specialist in Manchester on Tuesday.” With people making use of the long Bank holiday weekend (Saturday through Monday), Yadav said that private eye specialist who was recommended was on leave and the next available date for an appointment was August 30. “Based on what the specialist says we will have to wait for the next step. As of now it seems difficult,” Yadav said about Gambhir’s participation in the game.Gambhir suffered a concussion on the third day of the final Test at The Oval after falling on his back and hitting his head against the turf while attempting a catch in the outfield. He batted down the order in both innings was hit on the back of his helmet by Stuart Broad in the second innings that set his recovery back.He did not feature in either of India’s two victories in the tour games against Sussex and Kent and will likely miss the final practice match, a Twenty20 against Leicestershire on Monday, as well, although his name was printed on the county’s programme guide.On Sunday, the India squad minus MS Dhoni and Munaf Patel enjoyed a three-hour long training session behind closed doors. Dhoni opted out of the session to watch his favourite football team Manchester United trample Arsenal 8-2 at Old Trafford. Reportedly Suresh Raina and RP Singh, who did take part in the training but left early, joined Dhoni for the English Premiership game.The media were not able to watch the session, however, as they were barred from practice. According to Yadav, the decision was taken at the behest of the local police, who were manning the ground in strong numbers. The team’s security has been strengthened after the twin incidents in Kent -an unclaimed package was found on the railway track near Canterbury West train station and the fire inside a Marks & Spencer store that was very close to the Indian team hotel. “The police felt that the media could not be allowed inside the training,” Yadav said.The local ground security even refused to allow the media to watch the training from the few available viewpoints, such as the bar and cafe on the first floor of the block that houses the county shop. When some journalists tried to stand on the bucket seats meant for spectators, they were immediately asked to step down and warned that they would be asked to leave the ground if they continued to ask questions.