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Martin Guptill, the New Zealand opener, has said his team will have to “show some aggression” in the two-Test series against Australia

ESPNcricinfo staff22-Nov-2011Martin Guptill, the New Zealand opener, has said his team will have to “show some aggression” in the two-Test series against Australia beginning on December 1 in Brisbane. New Zealand have only toured Zimbabwe since the 2011 World Cup and the Australia series will Ross Taylor’s first major assignment as captain.”They’ve [Australia] been the top dog over the last few years,” Guptill told the . “We’re going to have to show some aggression over there, we can’t really back off. They’re going to bring the fight to us and we’re going to have to take it back to them.”Guptill is going to Australia for his first international tour in good form, having scored a century in the only Test against Zimbabwe in Bulawayo after which he made an unbeaten 195 for Auckland in the Plunkett Shield.”We just have to do our jobs right,” he said. “If everyone can do that then we’re going to go very well in this Test series.”Australia just completed a closely contested Test series in South Africa, which finished 1-1. They bounced back from a hammering in Cape Town to win the Johannesburg Test by a two-wicket margin. There were questions over the places of several senior Australian players, but Taylor said they remained competitive despite the turbulence.”They haven’t played as well as they would have liked in recent months but they’re still a very good side and they’re still a team that sets the benchmark,” Taylor said. “Australia’s always tough in their own conditions, people say they’re down but I don’t think they are.”We’re under no illusions. We’re going over there to win. I always enjoy playing in Australia and I’m looking forward to it. If you score runs and get wickets against Australia then you’ll be remembered as a good player.”New Zealand will have a new challenge to face when they take the field at the Gabba: Pat Cummins, the 18-year-old fast bowler who made a sensational Test debut at the Wanderers, taking a six-wicket haul and hitting the winning runs.”We haven’t seen too much of him [Cummins] but … we’ll be ready for him,” Guptill said. “He looks pretty quick, but we’re going to put some plans in place to be able to counter that. I don’t feel too bad at the moment but I’m sure, getting closer to the first Test, I’ll start getting a bit nervous and a few butterflies in the stomach.”New Zealand kick off the tour with a warm-up game against Australia A, beginning on November 24, and Taylor had a theory about why visiting sides were made to start at the Allan Border Field in Brisbane.”The wicket is very flat and Australia put a lot of touring teams there to tire the bowlers out,” Taylor said. “So we’ll be going there to conserve the bowlers’ energy as much as possible.”There’s probably going to be the talking point of whether we go in with four quicks, or three quicks and Dan [Vettori] batting at No 6. Trent Boult has had an outstanding start to the season. He’s been to Australia before and not played so I’m sure he’s hurting a little bit there … [but] even if he bowls well, he still might not make the [test] team. We’ll just have to wait and see.”

Pakistan International Airlines wrapped up their seventh QEA title before lunch on the final day

ESPNcricinfo staff23-Dec-2011.
ScorecardPakistan International Airlines needed just 21.4 overs on the final day to claim their seventh Quaid-e-Azam Trophy Division One. They took just two balls to wrap up Zarai Taraqiati Bank Limited’s second-innings for 70 before their top order wasted no time chasing down the target of 107 in 21.2 overs for the loss of opener Kamran Sajid.ZTBL had not added to their overnight score of 70 when Anwar Ali had Iftikhar Anjum caught to claim his eight wicket of the match. Then, with Agha Sabir playing the anchor role, Sajid went after the ZTBL bowlers, smashing eight fours in his 34 that came off just 29 balls. He was dismissed by Sohail Tanvir but Sheharyar Ghani made sure there would be no respite for the bowlers, making 36 from 34 balls, with seven fours to take his side to victory in the company of Sabir, who made a comparatively patient 40 from 65 balls,

Charlotte Edwards has signed a new sponsorship deal with Serious Cricket – an equipment and coaching supplier

George Dobell31-Jan-2012Charlotte Edwards, the England Women captain, has signed a new sponsorship deal with Serious Cricket – an equipment and coaching supplier – allowing her to both enjoy the financial rewards her success warrants and extend her playing career without the concern that she ought to be looking to life after cricket.On the face of it, the news that Edwards has signed a sponsorship deal might seem of little interest. That is just the sort of thing you would expect from a top international sports star, isn’t it?Well, yes and no. While the captain of the England’s men’s side would be expected to have such deals, the news that Edwards had agreed to something similar is quietly significant. It marks another small step on the road to professionalism of the England women’s team.Edwards, 32, is a fine cricketer with an excellent record. She is also a fine captain and has played a huge role in leading England to unprecedented success. For a substantial part of her tenure, she has led the best side in the world.But, until very recently, England was in danger of losing some of their leading players. Some pursued careers with more stability and longevity, others simply found that the demands of trying to earn a living and playing international sport compromised them in both departments. The drop-off rate for young cricketers giving up the game shortly after leaving education was alarming. The lack of security or income from cricket was a major problem. Edwards even had to fund the purchase of some of England clothing and her accommodation on her first tour.Then the Cricket Foundation’s Chance to Shine scheme started to provide employment for a group of leading women cricketers. It meant they were required to coach in clubs and schools to spread the gospel of cricket, but also ensured they had a benevolent employer who would ensure they had time to train and tour as necessary. The ECB also supplies monthly payments to 20 women cricketers and recently introduced tour fees and incentivised appearance fees.Perhaps more importantly, Edwards’ new deal – in addition to Chance to Shine – will provide an incentive to other young women who are considering a career in the game to take the plunge and pursue cricket as a profession.

Michael Clarke believes the added responsibility of captaincy has been a factor in his remarkable year as a batsman

Brydon Coverdale in Melbourne 27-Feb-2012Michael Clarke believes the added responsibility of captaincy has been a factor in his remarkable year as a batsman. Clarke won his third Allan Border Medal in Melbourne on Monday and it was no surprise after a 12-month period in which he topped Australia’s run tally in both Test and one-day international cricket, and took over the captaincy from Ricky Ponting.In contrast, the previous year was much leaner for Clarke, who averaged 31.30 in Test cricket in the 12 months up until last year’s Allan Border Medal. The highlights of Clarke’s 2011-12 were his triple-century against India at the SCG and his double-hundred in the Adelaide Test two games later, but he made a ton in each of Australia’s four Test series and topped the run tally in three of those.”I think the added responsibility of captaining the team has probably made me stand up and lead from the front,” Clarke said. “People see the rewards when you stand up on the big stage, they don’t see the hard work you do off the field. When you have the chance to go and bat for Australia in the middle of the SCG or the Adelaide Oval, that’s the fun part, that’s the part where you just walk out and enjoy yourself because the hard work has been done.”With some young guys coming in to our team this summer it’s been crucial that the senior players have stood up. It’s a great reflection when you look at that leadership board for the Allan Border Medal you’ve got myself, Ricky Ponting, Michael Hussey, Shane Watson – the senior players are on that board and I think that’s played a big part in the success we’ve had over the last 12 months.”And it has been a prosperous year for Clarke’s team as well as for himself. He is yet to lose a series as captain and started his tenure in the Test role with victory over Sri Lanka and over the past two months helped his side whitewash India 4-0. But in among those triumphs there have been lower points: their 47 all out in Cape Town and the loss to New Zealand in Hobart in particular.”I think it could have gone better, definitely,” Clarke said of his first year as captain. “I think over the past 12 months we’ve played some really good cricket but there’s been some patches that we’d like to forget as well. I think we’re heading in the right direction as a team. When you’re the No.1 one-day team in the world it’s really hard to stay on top of your game all the time; you have to keep finding new things, new ways to improve. You have to keep working hard, you can’t take anything for granted. Getting to the top of the tree is very hard but staying there is even harder.”The job we face as a Test team is we have three other teams in front of us. We know we have a lot of work to do. We see that every single day with the ICC rankings, we see very clearly where we sit. We have very clear goals there. I think we’re a long way from the team we want to be but I do believe we’re heading in the right direction.”Clarke won the Allan Border Medal by quite a distance from the second-placed Hussey and Watson, who came in third. Ponting was fourth, followed by the emerging fast man James Pattinson in fifth position and the batsman David Warner, who came sixth.

Australian domestic cricket’s honorary “Test match”, the Sheffield Shield final, will not be broadcast on television for the first time since 2007

Daniel Brettig12-Mar-2012Australian domestic cricket’s honorary “Test match”, the Sheffield Shield final, will not be broadcast on television for the first time since 2007, due to cramped scheduling and the drain of resources created by the Twenty20 Big Bash League.Due to be fought between Queensland and Tasmania over five days from Friday, the competition decider has been jettisoned from the pay television broadcaster Fox Sports’ schedule as it juggles a vast array of football codes and the start of Australia’s ODI series in the West Indies.The logjam of matches is so intense that there was not even room for the final to be squeezed in via the digital multi-channelling option, which had already been reserved for other clashing sports.While the schedule cram is a primary reason for the final’s absence from television screens, the extra production costs of the BBL, expanded from six states to eight city-based teams this summer, is also understood to be a significant factor in Fox Sports’ decision.”More cricket was broadcast over the summer for the BBL and that chewed up a number of outside broadcasts,” a spokesman for Fox Sports told ESPNcricinfo.Instead of television coverage, the final will be webcast by Fox Sports, with two cameras to provide pictures from the Gabba while Brendon Julian and Mark Waugh anchor the coverage and provide commentary from the studio.”It’s a reasonable compromise, the match won’t be on TV sets but the webcast means it will be open to all viewers, not just Fox subscribers,” the spokesman said.The Shield final has had a chequered history as a television product, broadcast at various times by Channel Nine, the defunct Optus Vision pay television network and Fox Sports since 2008. Its status as the most important domestic match of the summer has been enhanced by the broadcasts, with most players recognising the chance to place their name in lights by performing in a broadcast fixture.In 2008, Phillip Hughes, Beau Casson and Peter Siddle all pushed ahead on the queue for Test places by performing strongly in the New South Wales versus Victoria final at the SCG, and all would earn a Baggy Green cap over the following 12 months. Last year the opening batsman Ed Cowan and teenaged fast bowler Pat Cummins both put in noteworthy final displays and were representing Australia before 2011 was out.Shield matches have been webcast by Cricket Australia and the state associations over the past two summers, though at the Gabba Queensland Cricket had cut a budgetary corner at the start of the season – in order to make more room for the Brisbane Heat BBL team – by removing their internal broadcast cameras for Shield games.

Runako Morton, the West Indies batsman, has died in a road accident on Sunday, police have confirmed. Morton, 33, crashed into a utility pole on the Solomon Hochoy Highway in Chase Village in central Trinidad

ESPNcricinfo staff05-Mar-2012Runako Morton, the West Indies batsman, has died in a road accident on Sunday, police have confirmed. Morton, 33, crashed into a utility pole on the Solomon Hochoy Highway in Chase Village in central Trinidad.He was on his way home from a cricket match, and was the sole occupant of the vehicle. The accident occurred at around 11pm local time. When news spread about his death, many of his team-mates posted condolence messages on Twitter, like Wavell Hinds: “Gone far too soon brother Runako. I will treasure the great memories for sure. R.I.P. God knows best.” Rayad Emrit, Morton’s Trinidad team-mate, tweeted: “R.I.P. Morton. You’ll always be remembered buddy. Gone but NEVER forgotten. We miss you bro.”Julian Hunte, the president of the West Indies Cricket Board, sent his condolences: “Runako’s passing, still in the prime of life, leaves us all in shock,” Hunte said. “He will be remembered as a fierce competitor on the field who gave no quarter whether he was playing for West Indies, Leeward Islands, Nevis or Trinidad and Tobago.”Morton played 15 Tests and 56 ODIs for West Indies, with his last appearance for his country coming against Australia in a Twenty20 international in 2010. He underachieved as a Test batsman, scoring 573 runs at an average of 22.03 with four half-centuries. He had a better record as a one-day player, scoring 1519 runs at an average of 33.75 with two centuries and ten fifties.Morton’s career was blotted by disciplinary breaches. He was expelled from the West Indian Academy in July 2001, and a year later was called up to the injury-plagued West Indies squad as a replacement for Marlon Samuels. He pulled out of the ICC Champions Trophy in September 2002, after lying about the death of his grandmother. His career slipped further when he was arrested (though released without charge) in January 2004, following a stabbing incident.
His maiden ODI century (110*) came in a losing cause against New Zealand in 2006. Two months later, he scored another century, but in a washed-out contest against Zimbabwe in Trinidad. However, one of his most significant one-day knocks was his match-winning unbeaten 90 against Australia in the 2006 Champions Trophy.His in-and-out career continued with a recall for the 2007 England trip and he made runs against Zimbabwe later that year but his form never remained consistent. His most recent fifty was the unbeaten 85 against India at Kingston in 2009. His last Test appearance came in 2008 against Australia in Antigua.Morton was one of the few players from the tiny island of Nevis to play Tests for West Indies. He represented Leeward Islands from his debut in 1996-97 till 2009-10, when he shifted base to Trinidad and Tobago. He scored 4104 first-class runs for Leewards at 44.60 with 11 centuries and 25 fifties. He played five first-class matches for Trinidad, scoring 189 runs.Edited by Kanishkaa Balachandran

England will visit four new international venues on their tour of India either side of Christmas. Pune, Ranchi, Rajkot and Dharamsala will all hold ODIs for the first time.

ESPNcricinfo staff02-Apr-2012England will visit four new international venues on their tour of India either side of Christmas. Pune, Ranchi, Rajkot and Dharamsala will all hold ODIs for the first time.The Himachal Pradesh Cricket Association Stadium in Dharamsala, which has hosted several IPL matches, has already been approved by the ICC as an international venue but the three other stadiums are awaiting approval: the Subrata Roy Stadium in Pune, the Khandheri Cricket Ground in Rajkot and the Jharkhand State Cricket Association Stadium in Ranchi.England play four Tests against India in November and December at Kolkata, Mumbai, Ahmedabad and Nagpur before two T20s, one of which will be staged at Pune with Rajkot, Ranchi and Dharamsala staging an ODI each for the five-match series.Before England tour, India begin their home season with a two-Test series against New Zealand in August, followed by two T20s. Each of the four venues chosen for that series are located in southern India, as a result of the monsoon season being at its peak in the rest of the country. The Tests will be held in Hyderabad and Bangalore, the T20 matches in Chennai and Visakhapatnam.The home season concludes with a four-Test series against Australia between February and March 2013.