All posts by h716a5.icu

Kane Williamson’s recovery from a minor shoulder injury will cause him to miss part of the seven-match ODI series against Sri Lanka

ESPNcricinfo staff12-Jan-2015Kane Williamson’s recovery from a minor shoulder injury will cause him to miss part of the seven-match ODI series against Sri Lanka. The injury occurred when Williamson dived while fielding and fell on his shoulder during the first Test in Christchurch.New Zealand coach Mike Hesson said the team management had managed the injury over the course of the two Tests and the first ODI, and would now give Williamson a break. According to an NZC press release, he will be out for 7-10 days. This means he could potentially return in time for the fifth ODI on January 23.”Kane is obviously a very important player for us and we need to give his shoulder the time to fully recover,” Hesson said. “He’s played a lot of cricket of late and this window will allow him to get back to 100%.”

An unbeaten century by Dwayne Smith lit up the Kensington Oval, helping Barbados Tridents to a comfortable 29-run win against St Lucia Zouks

ESPNcricinfo staff24-Jul-2014
Scorecard and ball-by-ball detailsAn unbeaten century by Dwayne Smith lit up the Kensington Oval, helping Barbados Tridents to a comfortable 29-run win against St Lucia Zouks but sparks also flew elsewhere. Tino Best and Shoaib Malik were involved in an altercation after the bowler dismissed the batsman, his celebration littered with choice words. Malik returned the favour before the umpire’s intervened.However, the incident had no bearing on the cricket being played. Malik had scored 49, Tridents were 128 in the 15th over and Smith was cruising along at 71. There was no let off in the remaining 5.1 overs: Smith fired up a late surge adding 58 runs in the period. He reached his second T20 century of the penultimate ball of the innings with a six over midwicket of Sohail Tanvir and celebrated it with another six off the last ball.The innings had started in a similar flourish. Zouks opted to bowl but the first ball, bowled by Roelof van de Merwe, was cut past point for a boundary by Smith. It wasn’t a one off. Smith launched a four and a six over mid-off before cutting one through to the point boundary to make it 18 off the first over. Tanvir struck of his first ball from the other end, but that proved to be their only positive in the next 13.4 overs.Smith and Malik partnered in an 110-run association that set up the foundation for a huge total. The two took their time taking 34 runs in their first six overs and apart from an odd boundary, didn’t look to press on. Smith reached his half-century in the 11th over, off 39 balls. The innings got a boost in the 15th over when both Smith and Malik launched into Best, taking 15 runs off his first four balls. Best uprooted Malik’s leg stump in the fifth delivery, but the momentum had been shifted. Smith continued his merry six-hitting ways and ended up with a tally of eight hits overs the boundary.Zouks needed a strong start to their innings but their top-order batsmen were unable to string major partnerships together. By the time Darren Sammy was dismissed, for a duck, in the 14th over, the chase had gone out of hand. Zouks needed 108 off 42 balls at that stage and although Tanvir and Keddy Lesporis made a valiant effort, their unbeaten 78-run stand fell much short of the target.

Sunil Narine and Andre Russell were considered for selection for the first Test against Bangladesh but opted to play in the Champions League T20 in India instead

ESPNcricinfo staff29-Aug-2014West Indies spinner Sunil Narine and allrounder Andre Russell were considered for selection for the first Test against Bangladesh in St Vincent but opted to play in the Champions League T20 in India instead. The WICB said their “decisions will not have any deleterious effect on consideration for future West Indies selection” because the CLT20 had “an ICC approved window on the international schedule.”Both Narine and Russel play for Kolkata Knight Riders in the IPL. Narine has played six Tests for West Indies, while Russell has played only one, against Sri Lanka in 2010.The qualifying round of the Champions League begins on September 13, the day the second Test against Bangladesh commences. Apart from players in the Barbados Tridents squad that won the Caribbean Premier League, seven other West Indies players are representing IPL franchises in the Champions League. They are: Narine, Russell, Dwayne Bravo, Lendl Simmons, Kieron Pollard, Dwayne Smith and Samuel Badree.Fast bowler Jason Holder, who made his debut in West Indies’ most recent Test – against New Zealand in Barbados in June – was part of the Barbados Tridents squad released by the CLT20, but has been picked for the first Test against Bangladesh.Narine had not been considered for selection for all three home Tests against New Zealand after opting to play for Knight Riders in the IPL final on June 1. It caused him to miss the start of a West Indies training camp ahead of the first Test starting on June 8. Narine’s absence paved the way for Shane Shillingford and Sulieman Benn to make their return to Test cricket.The 13-man squad for the first Test against Bangladesh was the first one picked by the new WICB selection panel led by Clive Lloyd. The only change from the previous West Indies squad was reserve batsman Leon Johnson being dropped.West Indies squad: Denesh Ramdin (capt), Chris Gayle, Kraigg Brathwaite, Kirk Edwards, Darren Bravo, Shivnarine Chanderpaul, Jermaine Blackwood, Kemar Roach, Jerome Taylor, Jason Holder, Shannon Gabriel, Sulieman Benn, Shane Shillingford.

Ahead of his first tour of England, R Ashwin has said he wants to revert to being an attacking bowler

ESPNcricinfo staff04-Jun-2014Ahead of his first tour of England, R Ashwin has said he wants to revert to being an attacking bowler. Ashwin said the team management had used him in a holding role in previous overseas Tests, and said this wasn’t his strength.”I had a chat with a couple of people who have done well in England,” Ashwin told the . “A few interesting things have come out of it. Bowling in a way that they have been doing takes practice. I need to see if it is working for me and find ways to take wickets.”There have been times where the team wanted me to hold an end up, which is not my strength. I would like to get back to my strength and start spinning the ball really hard and get batsmen out. In terms of strategy, I have a couple in my mind which I’ll be working on.”Ashwin hasn’t tasted too much success away from home so far, with only nine wickets in four Tests at an average of 74.77. After a wicketless first Test in South Africa, Ashwin was dropped, with Ravindra Jadeja replacing him for the second Test and remaining in the side as the only specialist spinner for the two Tests in New Zealand.”There are various factors that determine performance, some of which, like luck, aren’t in my hand,” Ashwin said. “I have been working very hard on whatever is in my hand. Apart from hard work, I think patience is also required.”Ashwin’s overseas struggles led Sunil Subramaniam, his former mentor, to criticise him in the media. Asked about this, Ashwin said he didn’t know what led to the breakdown of relations between them.”I think a coach must communicate with the player first,” he said. “I don’t know where we fell out. He was someone who was helping me. Whenever I needed help, I hired him. But with the tight international calendar, you don’t get the time to go back to someone and the drawing board. I don’t know where it comes from and you don’t know who needs the publicity.”India haven’t won a Test match away from home since that 2011 England tour, in which they lost the Test series 4-0. Ashwin said this wasn’t playing on his mind.”A lot of new guys have come in the team after the 2011 debacle. So that way it is going to be a fresh start,” he said. “Besides, the experience of players like Gautam Gambhir will be really handy. As a whole, it is a great challenge. I am very optimistic.”

While the pace of Jamie Overton caught the eye, it was the patience and denial of Keaton Jennings that gave Durham the advantage over Somerset.

George Dobell at Chester-le-Street20-Apr-2014
by 301 runsScorecardJamie Overton bowled with pace but little control and over-stepped eight times•Getty ImagesIt may be pace and big hitting that catches the eye, but it is so often patience and denial that proves more effective.So it proved on the first day of this game at Chester-le-Street. While the bowling of Jamie Overton, a young man blessed with unusual pace, may be what lingers longest in the mind, it was the well organised batting of Keaton Jennings that proved decisive.Put into bat on a track that is notoriously helpful for seamers, Durham achieved the second highest first innings score on the ground for two years. In 2013, six of the eight first innings total amounted to between 237 and 267 and only once did a side score above that. While the pitch may be drier than normal and carrying less grass cover, this is a total that might be considered about 40 above par.So Somerset will be especially rueful that they donated 32 extras to the Durham total. That tally includes 30 in no-balls – each no-ball costs two runs in the Championship – with the first session accounting for 24 of them. As Somerset’s vice-captain James Hildreth said afterwards: “That amount of runs can be absolutely crucial in a game here at this time of season.”While Somerset’s bowlers have some excuse – shorn of the injured pair of Alfonso Thomas and Steve Kirby, this is a youthful attack with its best years well ahead of it – it does seem shoddy to concede so many extras. Nor can it reflect especially well on the disciplines that should be instilled in training.But the extras are only part of the story. Somerset also squandered the new ball – Mark Stoneman pulled a four and a six in the first over – and conceded 42 fours and two sixes in the innings with a surfeit of short and wide bowling that allowed Durham to score at almost five-an-over for the first hour and then, just as it seemed Somerset might claw their way back into the game, counter-attack with an eighth-wicket stand of 65 in 18 overs.Durham, in turn, might reflect that they failed to make Somerset pay as heavily as they might have done. While their total is still more than competitive, it could have been far better against an attack that lost Craig Meschede to a side strain in the evening session and contains the sort of spinner in Johann Myburgh who seems to only bowl to improve the over-rate. Somerset were also without Craig Overton, who has a side strain.But Durham lost several soft wickets. Stoneman flashed without foot movement, Scott Borthwick was drawn into feeling for one he should have left, Phil Mustard left a straight one and Michael Richardson poked to gully the delivery after sustaining a blow to the head off Overton, who was as rapid as he was unpredictable.That Durham were able to post such a good total was largely due to Jennings. The former South Africa Uunder-19 captain is a left-handed batsman in the accumulative mould of Alastair Cook and, while his colleagues poked and prodded at balls they could have let pass, he left well, defended with a straight bat and waited for the short ball, the leg side ball or the over-pitched ball to put away. He rarely had to wait for long. It took a delivery that bounced more than normal to take his edge and end his innings.Overton, by contrast, looked raw. Not only did he over-step eight times, but he bowled far too short, far too often and, like Tymal Mills at Essex, provided a reminder that pace without control is a mixed blessing. But, by generating such sharp pace from a run-up that faintly resembles Steve Harmison, when everything clicked, he looked a fearsome prospect and he also struck Jamie Harrison, a much-improved batsman, a blow on the head. Tough days like this should be part of the learning process and it is not surprising that James Whitaker, the national selector, took a keen interest in him throughout the day.Somerset improved after lunch. Lewis Gregory bowled a particularly good spell to account for Jennings, with one that bounced, and Paul Collingwod, with one that kept low, to suggest there was still plenty in the surface if the ball was put in the right areas. But when Gareth Breese, as much a batsman as a bowler these days, helped Harrison plunder a tiring attack, Durham took the game away from Somerset. Had Breese, at third slip, held on to a tough chance offered by Marcus Trescothick in the final over of the day off the deserving Chris Rushworth, they would have capitalised further.”Anything above 250 here will be competitive,” Jennings said afterwards. “Sooner or later you get a ball here that has your name on it. We have excellent new ball bowlers and if we out the ball in good areas tomorrow, that should prove a good total.””We were disappointed with how we bowled,” Hildreth said, “particularly in that first session. It is hugely frustrating when you see all those no-balls, because they are completely within our control and we have just given them extras. Durham are ahead at the moment.”

Bangladesh captain Mashrafe Mortaza rued the dismissal of half-centurion Anamul Haque off the final ball of the match when his side needed three runs to win over the No.1-ranked T20 team

Mohammad Isam in Chittagong12-Feb-2014Bangladesh needed three to win off the last ball and although Anamul Haque, on 58 off 44, would regret top-edging the hip-high full toss, Bangladesh were ultimately done in by two earlier dismissals. Captain Mashrafe Mortaza said that Shakib Al Hasan and Nasir Hossain fell at crucial times which limited their ability to challenge the the target of 169.Shakib had added 43 runs for the third wicket with Anamul, before he tried to belt Nuwan Kulasekara in the 14th over and was bowled off a slower ball. Bangladesh needed a very gettable 62 runs off 40 balls before he got out. Nasir, Bangladesh’s designated finisher, swung hard against Lasith Malinga and holed out at long-on. At the time, Bangladesh still had 20 balls to get the requisite 37 runs, but that is the price Nasir or Shakib pays for their risk-taking.”Shakib and Nasir’s dismissals made a lot of difference because we could not accelerate from that point,” Mashrafe said. “It was probably the right time to pick up the pace.”We are very disappointed to lose such a game to the No. 1-ranked team in the world. Everyone is upset, but we will take good points out of this game. Nasir’s dismissal was just bad timing for us. It showed how things can go the other way.”But since Bangladesh were just one hit away from beating Sri Lanka, Anamul’s execution off that last ball would always be debated. Mashrafe has said it was down to luck, as almost everything was going the home team’s way in the final over.”We were equal with Sri Lanka and that one ball in the end made the difference. Anamul was hitting it well by that time, as we had seen the previous two balls when he hit two very good shots over cover. The last ball was unfortunate, the timing wasn’t there. It could have taken a top edge and gone behind the keeper but he hit it with the face of the bat.”The platform was ready for us. The batsman was set and the bowler was under pressure. I think luck betrayed us in the end. But credit to [Anamul Haque] Bijoy for bouncing back so well after missing out on the Test matches. He took the side very close to victory.”Thisara Perera was given that last over and leaked 14 runs off the first five balls, but Sri Lanka’s top-scorer Kusal Perera, who believed the visitors’ score was a little light, said the team had backed Thisara to deliver.”It is a team game, and we can’t forget the fast bowler in the last ball,” he said. “He bowled two balls, [and got hit for] two boundaries. We had to ask him something before the last ball. That’s how the game goes.”We were always thinking about winning the match. We don’t want to think about the losing side. We were 10 to 15 runs short. But it was a defendable target.”Bangladesh’s fielding kept them in the game when Kusal was smashing it everywhere during his 44-ball 64. Anamul took a superbly balanced catch at deep midwicket while Nasir took a blinder diving to his right around the same position at the other end of the ground. Mashrafe has said that it was important to field well to turn their fortunes in the shortest format. Bangladesh have now lost 23 of 32 matches played since 2006.”We were always a good fielding side, and today we had some really good ones out there,” he said. “We took some great catches, and those have more of an effect in Twenty20s than Tests or ODIs. We dropped a few catches in the Test series, so it was a good way to bounce back.”I would still say we played well. Sunny bowled well, and Mithun probably had to play that shot. It was a good mix for us but to win T20 games, there has to be two bowlers and three batsmen doing the job, or three bowlers and two batsmen.”

Justice Mukul Mudgal, who headed an independent probe committee investigating corruption in the IPL, has said that players should not suffer as a result of the ongoing case between the BCCI and the Cricket Association of Bihar in the Supreme Court

ESPNcricinfo staff27-Mar-2014Justice Mukul Mudgal, whose independent probe committee carried out a four-month long investigation into corruption in the IPL, has said that players should not suffer as a result of the ongoing case between the BCCI and the Cricket Association of Bihar in the Supreme Court.Responding to the Supreme Court’s proposals to change the leadership of the BCCI on Thursday, Justice Mudgal said the recommendations were a “punishment” for IPL offences.”I can’t totally comment on them [the proposals] because this depends on what the Board’s response is,” he told ESPNcricinfo. “But it’s a punishment for the IPL offences and the Supreme Court will take a look after the BCCI’s response and see what punishment should be imposed on the teams. Perhaps all the players should not suffer.”Mudgal pointed out that the suspension of Rajasthan Royals and Chennai Super Kings, whose players and team officials faced arrests over alleged involvement in betting and spot-fixing, had only been suggested by the court.”It has not been ordered. I’m sure the court will look at all the ifs and buts and the pros and cons before actually passing any order,” he said. “This [the proposals] is only to elicit the response of the BCCI, according to me… There are clean players, too. I’m sure the court will take that into consideration.”Mudgal, a cricket fan for the last six decades, said that despite corruption in the IPL, it could not be assumed that “all matches are fixed.” He said: “There are bad fish but not everybody should be painted with the same brush. We have some extremely dedicated players who sincerely work hard.”In the Supreme Court on Thursday, there were several references by the CAB’s defence counsel Harish Salve, to the many overlapping roles being carried out during Srinivasan’s term as BCCI president and often leading back to him. These related not merely to Srinivasan’s positions as board president, managing director of India Cements and, through that, owner of the Super Kings franchise in the IPL. There were also several India Cements officials holding positions in the BCCI administrative structures and the company also employed MS Dhoni as a vice-president.The conflict of issue, Mudgal said, had been brought into his report even thought it was not in the committee’s terms of reference.”Since so many people deposing to us referred to it, we only summarized their depositions and gave it to the court and without expressing any opinion whether there was a conflict of interest or not,” he said. “It wouldn’t have been proper for us to do so.”When asked whether the conflict of interest due to Srinivasan’s “many hats” turned out to be the central issue in court, Mudgal said: “Perhaps, it could be. But it’s the court’s decision and not our recommendation. All the people who were not directly connected with the BCCI had mentioned it, so it was surely something that deserved to be brought to the notice of the court and that was our duty.”Talking about Justice AK Patnaik, who has been heading the bench in this case for the last eight months, Mudgal said that while he had not sat with the judge on the same bench (as he belonged to another high court), Patnaik was “a judge of great constitutional knowledge and one of the most popular judges of the Supreme Court. He is a kind, compassionate judge.”Mudgal found his experience on heading the probe panel to be a “process of learning.” According to him, the opportunity to interact with “people involved in the game gives you a slightly different perspective from what you have had as a spectator.” He admitted his opinion about Indian cricket “did change much” while working on the investigation and he had “learnt more” on the panel which was “a good education.” He was not, however, surprised by the presence of corruption in sport. “I’ve been a judge for about 15 years, I have seen all facets of human behavior – murder, etc,” he said. “So was I surprised? No.”

In a major setback for Uttar Pradesh, pace bowler RP Singh is likely to miss the rest of their quarter-final against Karnataka

Nagraj Gollapudi in Bangalore08-Jan-2014In a major setback for Uttar Pradesh, pace bowler RP Singh is likely to miss the rest of their quarter-final against Karnataka. RP pulled up in his run-up in the third over after lunch (his second), stopping on the verge of delivering the ball. He had a quiet word with umpire Amesh Saheba, threw the ball to his team-mate Piyush Chawla and walked off. According to the team management, RP informed them that he had pulled his hamstring.Earlier in the over RP had walked gingerly back to his bowling mark. With his last ball before he walked off, RP had bowled a short delivery that Robin Uthappa had pulled into the hands of Amit Mishra at deep square leg. However, even before the catch could be completed, Saheba had called it a no-ball, RP having crossed the line. RP had shrugged in disgust.Uthappa, who was on 58 then and managed to reach his century later, confirmed that he had spoken to RP, who told him he would not be playing the rest of the match. “I don’t think RP will be playing the rest of the four days. I spoke to him and he won’t be available for the next four days,” Uthappa said after play. “He is out with the injury I had. I can relate to how painful it must be.”Mishra agreed, saying RP’s participation was now in doubt. “He is in too much pain. We will have to wait [on his fitness],” Mishra said.Although RP was not available for comment, he was spotted going to the National Cricket Academy at the tea break and, once again, immediately after the day’s play.Although RP had not picked up a wicket, in his two spells he had posed a lot of difficult questions for the batsmen, including a couple of confident lbw appeals against Uthappa. He had been appointed UP’s captain on the eve of the match and being the strike bowler, he was their go-to man with the ball.In his absence, Uthappa said Karnataka had a good chance to dominate and make the semi-finals. “Them being a bowler short is an advantage for us. It gives us that much more of an opportunity to go out there and consolidate and put up a big score,” Uthappa said. “The thing about knockout games is to immediately secure a first-innings lead to progress to the next level, and that is what we need to do tomorrow.”

Yasir Arafat, the Pakistan allrounder, has been brought in by the Perth Scorchers as a replacement for West Indies’ Dwayne Smith

ESPNcricinfo staff24-Dec-2013Yasir Arafat, the Pakistan allrounder, has been brought in by the Perth Scorchers as a replacement for West Indies’ Dwayne Smith. Smith, who had not flown to Australia ahead of the Scorchers’ opening game on Sunday, is expected to miss the entire Big Bash League due to personal reasons.Arafat has not played for Pakistan in over a year – he last played in the World Twenty20 in September 2012 – but is something of a travelling Twenty20 specialist. He has played domestic leagues in England, New Zealand, Bangladesh and Scotland, apart from turning out for Khan Research Laboratories in Pakistan. He has played 165 T20s in all, scoring 1025 runs at a strike rate of 119 and 207 wickets with a best of 4 for 5.Should Smith become available to play during the course of the tournament, the Scorchers can apply to the BBL technical committee to have him reinstated in the squad. Their other overseas signing in an 18-man squad is South African pacer Alfonso Thomas.The Scorchers began their campaign with a three-wicket loss to the Brisbane Heat in an away game. Next up for them is a home game against the Melbourne Renegades on Boxing Day.

Glamorgan will be relieved after tying allrounder Jim Allenby to a long-term deal. He was considering his future having been out of contract at the end of the season but will now stay in Cardiff until 2017.

ESPNcricinfo staff15-Aug-2013Glamorgan will be relieved after tying allrounder Jim Allenby to a long-term deal. He was considering his future having been out of contract at the end of the season but will now stay in Cardiff until 2017.Allenby, 30 from Western Australia, is Glamorgan’s leading runscorer this season in the County Championship and Friends Life t20. Glamorgan were very keen to keep him but Allenby was weighing up his options with several counties interested.He was disappointed to have been stripped of the one-day captaincy in favour of fellow Australian Marcus North but if anything, it has galvanised Allenby’s batting. He led Glamorgan’s good run in the Flt20 with 355 runs at 50.71.Allenby has also helped his county avoid total disaster in the Championship. He has defied their lowly position of eighth in Division Two with 941 runs at 67.21. Alan Hamer, Glamorgan’s chief executive, emphasised the point: “We are delighted to have retained Jim’s services for the next four years. He is a key member of our playing squad.”Today’s announcement re-affirms the club’s determination to become a successful first-class county. We remain committed to retaining our best players and to challenge strongly in all forms of the game.”Allenby added: “I am extremely happy to commit the next four years of my playing career to Glamorgan and look forward to working with the playing squad and coaching staff to bring success back to this club.”Another player Glamorgan would like to retain for next season is veteran batsman Murray Goodwin, who has also propped up his county with 846 first-class runs at 56.40. His performances triggered a one-year extension to his contract for next season but Goodwin, 40, is keen to secure a two-year deal.