All posts by csb10.top

Glamorgan could have two representatives at the first Test against Pakistan, starting at Lord`s next Thursday – spinner Robert Croft and scorer Byron Denning.Byron Denning has already accepted an invitation to act as England`s scorer in the opening Test of the 2001 series. The long serving Glamorgan scorer will be in the scorer`s box alongside Tony Kingston of Northamptonshire as the two teams take the field, and after the announcement this morning of the England squad, it is not inconceivable that `Dasher` will be recording the efforts of spinner Robert Croft.Croft is one of thirteen names in the England squad, which includes uncapped Surrey batsman Ian Ward and Yorkshire`s Ryan Sidebottom. Croft is the only full time spinner in the squad, with Ashley Giles still recovering from a Achilles tendon strain.Many pundits are suggesting that Ward will get the nod in the final eleven, rather than the Glamorgan off-spinner, but Chairman of Selectors David Graveney has not discounted the fact that Croft could figure in the match. “Everyone seems to think Crofty is simply coming along to make up thenumbers, but with the weather being so unpredictable, we believespin could still play a part in this Test.”

India have a habit, for some reason, of choosing Port of Spain as theground to set many of their records, and Sourav Ganguly’s teamcontinued that tradition this time around. The Queen’s Park Oval sawtwo individuals garner two important records, making for an unusuallystatistics-heavy Test.Ganguly himself was one of those individuals, notching up his fourthTest win overseas to pass MAK Pataudi and Bishan Singh Bedi for mostvictories abroad. Bedi and Ganguly have comparable records; theyregistered their away wins in 22 and 20 Tests respectively. Pataudi,however, posted his wins even though he was skipper for a whopping 40Tests.Interestingly enough, the three captains under discussions are alsothe only three captains to win a Test in the Caribbean. Further, allthree wins came at Port of Spain.

In passing, the comparison of each captain’s performance in his awaywins proves extremely flattering to Ganguly. The current Indianskipper averages 76.25 in those four Tests; Pataudi, in contrast,averages a measly 24.40, while Bedi took 16 wickets in the threeTests.The other notable statistic from Port of Spain, of course, was SachinTendulkar drawing level with Don Bradman. While 29 centuries is stillan achievement, and nothing should detract from Tendulkar’sperformances thus far, the difference in speed is staggering enough tofurther burnish the glow on the Don’s halo.Tendulkar took 93 matches and 148 innings for his centuries – ahundred every 5.1 innings. Tendulkar’s Mumbai predecessor, SunilGavaskar, played 95 matches and 166 innings – a hundred every 5.72innings. Bradman played 52 Tests and 80 innings – a hundred every2.76 innings, or almost twice as often as Tendulkar. So if one thinksTendulkar prolific, the imagination boggles further at Bradman.One reason for Bradman’s superior record could have been his rate ofconversion. He finished his career with 29 hundreds but only 13fifties. Tendulkar has 31 half-centuries to his 29 fifties. Gavaskarhad made 35 fifties when he made his 29th century.

Railways stormed into the final of the coveted Ranji Trophychampionship beating Punjab by 5 wickets at the PCA stadium in Mohalion Monday. This is the second entry of Railways into the title clashand comes after a gap of 13 years.Resuming at six without loss in pursuit of a target of 199, thevisitors began on a cautious note as they scored only 55 runs in thefirst session in which 36 overs were bowled. This was primarily doneto ensure that the Punjab team did not get an early breakthrough andrun through the Railways innings. The overnight batsmen Amit Pagnisand Sanjay Bangar successfully negotiated the opening spell ofGagandeep and Vineet Sharma.Spin was introduced as early as the 11th over to make use of thebowlers’ footmarks. The opening pair took the score to 47 runs beforePagnis, who struck two elegant boundaries of Sandeep Sawal, offered asimple return catch to the left arm spinner Babloo Kumar, as he triedto play the bowler towards midon.Tejinder Pal Singh who joined Pagnis, struck Sandeep Sawal throughcovers to open his account. A spanking straight drive by Tejinder offMunish Sharma was the shot of the day; none of the fielders budged asthe ball raced to the fence. The partnership between Tejinder andSanjay Bangar tilted the match in favour of Railways but with thescore on 110, Tejinder (34, 4×4) offered a simple catch to substituteDinesh Mongia, who was the lone fielder in the slip cordon.Yere Goud, known for his cool temperament proved to be an able ally toBangar as both of them kept the scoreboard moving by taking singlesand twos. They carried the total to 125 when Bangar needlessly chaseda wide delivery from Gagandeep only to be caught by wicket keeperVikram Rathore for an individual contribution of 47. Skipper AbhaySharma scored a boundary and a towering six off Sandeep Sawal.However, the bowler had the last laugh as he had Sharma caught in theslips by Mongia for 17 at the stroke of tea.At the score of 168, umpire S.Banerjee ruled Yere Goud leg before asthe batsman tried to play a full pitched delivery from Reetinder Sodhihalf cock. The usually dependable Goud had contributed 25 runs off 66balls including four hits to the fence. With 31 runs still requiredfor victory, there was a slight flutter in the Railways camp.But Raza Ali had other ideas, striking six boundaries in the course ofan unbeaten 32, with his winning shot coming off Sandeep Sawal.Shreyas Khanolkar remain unbeaten on 12 as Railways clinched the issuejust four balls before the mandatory overs were to begin. For PunjabGagandeep, Sodhi, Vineet Sharma, Babloo Kumar and Sandeep Sawalclaimed one wicket each.

A completely unknown commodity, a teenage cricketer one has not even heard of, who establishes a world record in only his second international outing is a clear indication of natural talent, cheeky confidence and limitless potential. An aggressive young Pathan, Shahid Afridi, then only 17, pulled off the impossible when he scored the fastest century in one-day cricket (off only 37 balls, 11 sixes), and that too against the finest exponents of the shortened version of the game, Sri Lanka.But, despite this dazzling debut, and a few memorable innings following it, Afridi’s international career has been an on-off affair. And, the latest setback has been his omission from the squad to England for the Test series. He, however, is likely to regain his place in the triangular series, which would follow the two-Test rubber, with Australia being the third team.There are many who believe that Afridi should not be left out of any Pakistan team, be it a limited-overs outing or a Test match. To his protagonists, he is too good an all-rounder to be left out of the eleven, for he contributes to the team’s cause by winkling out crucial wickets with his fastish leg-spin and stems the flow of runs with his athleticism in the field.In addition to his all-round skills his undoubted charisma and the prospects of dazzling fireworks, if he gets into his stride, also brings spectators to the ground.These are all valid arguments, more so because Afridi took a five-wicket haul on his Test debut against Australia in 1998-99 and followed it up with a big hundred, 142 to be precise, in his second Test against India at Chennai.At his best, Afridi is simply mesmerizing, a delight to watch. At his worst, he can be incredibly irritating, because he gets out time and again to the worst possible shot selection. At the start of the innings, his early departure upsets the whole game plan, and usually leaves the team in disarray.A natural hitter of the cricket ball, his failure lies in his inability to curb his instinctive aggression when the situation so demands, lack of patience, and failure in disciplining himself to play as a team man, on occasions to just stay there and wait for the wayward deliveries.But, on his day, he is a one-man demolition squad. The opposition fielders can do little but retrieve the ball, which usually lands far outside the biggest ground. Setting a field to him is well nigh impossible, as he improvises and out-maneuvers the bowling with a mocking glee. Then Afridi becomes one of a kind in the present world of generally plodding, mediocre cricket, and indeed transports us by his magic to the golden age of the game. Like the great England batsman of the late 19th and early 20th century, Gilbert Jessop (known as The Croucher), he ‘hits sixes playing defensive’.And this is Afridi’s biggest quality, that he is a rare, indeed an endangered, species in the modern era due to his cavalier approach, natural batting genius and a chivalrous acceptance of any challenge, whatever the situation. Afridi is no exponent of the convenient art of padding up to an uncertain delivery, he lashes out at anything and everything. His instinct demands that every ball be hit, preferably hard, and preferably out of the stadium.And in his element, just as stand-in Kiwi captain Craig McMillan acknowledged after his side was mauled for a 24-ball 50 that laid the foundation of a successful run-chase recently at Sharjah, Afridi is simply too dynamic a batsman to be stopped by any attack in the world. And, McMillan’s assessment is not an exaggeration by any means!

Greg Chappell could go back to the future after being given an interview for the newly-created job on Australia’s national selection panel. Chappell, a former Test captain, was one of the men who installed Allan Border as leader in 1984, but he stood down in 1987-88 after becoming upset with the game’s administration structure.He is currently the head coach at the Centre of Excellence and his place on Cricket Australia’s list has been confirmed to Cricinfo. While the new full-time role comes with a spot on the selection panel, it also includes being a national talent manager and working with the states. Chappell does part of that already in his post at the Academy and as the Australia A coach.Andrew Hilditch, David Boon, Merv Hughes and Jamie Cox are the incumbents on the panel that will undergo a mild restructure. Over the past two years the Test team has dropped from first to fourth on the rankings, and could go to fifth if England, who currently lead 2-0, cleansweep Pakistan in their four-match series.The selection quartet works on a part-time basis, but Hilditch is not applying for the vacant job and said the redesign would not change his duties as chairman. “I look forward to having a full-time selector in the sense there are a lot of issues with workload management and our roster system and making sure we’re covering all the cricket,” Hilditch said earlier this month.”[The new appointment] will have a role on the panel like any other selector, but a very important role in talent management and managing the state talent managers. It’s a pretty big role straight away – a massive role. I think it’s a big development for Australian cricket and I’m very excited.”Chappell, 62, is due to be interviewed this week. He was appointed at the Centre of Excellence in 2008, a year after he finished an eventful term as India’s coach.

The Bangladesh batsmen must put a greater value on their wickets, their captain Mushfiqur Rahim has said, after his side squandered an opportunity to beat a full-strength West Indies for the first time in a Test. Chasing 245, Bangladesh were 45 for 2 at lunch on the final day in Mirpur, but lost five wickets to slip to 129 for 7 by tea. They were dismissed for 167.”Shakib [Al Hasan] got an unplayable ball, but some of our top-order batsmen played soft shots,” Mushfiqur said. “It is not expected of them. We need to make the bowlers work hard for our wickets.”I thought we had a good Test match except for the last two sessions today. We lost the game in the second session by losing five wickets. It became difficult for us to go all out for the win in the final session. We wanted to bat with six wickets in hand after tea, because scoring any amount of runs with just three wickets is difficult in the final session of a Test match.”Given it was Bangladesh’s first Test in 2012, Mushfiqur said it was satisfying to post the team’s highest total in Test cricket. While several batsmen performed in the first innings, their failures in the second frustrated the captain.”Ahead of the Test match, our concerns were about lasting the five days, but we scored 500-plus and took a first-innings lead, these are big achievements,” Mushfiqur said. “Naeem’s maiden Test hundred and the performance of the others are also noteworthy.”But it is sad that we couldn’t make 245 or draw the game against an attack that had given us 556 runs. I hope we start making the bowlers work for our wickets. If we can bring this into our game, we can do better in every Test in the future.”Bangladesh became the 14th team to score 500 runs in an innings and still lose the Test. Their inexperience in chases, having only won once and drawn twice in 14 tries, also contributed to the defeat, according to Mushfiqur. They had considered trying to save the game but that also required the top and middle order to show patience in the 16 overs before lunch and in the second session.”There was a target to make sure we bat less overs if we didn’t get wickets in the morning session. We knew they wouldn’t let go until they had scored 300, but we got quick wickets in the morning. It was a tricky target but I think the batsmen have let down the team.”Chasing 245 is never easy on the final day, so we did consider a draw. We wanted to play normally till tea and try to score the rest in the last session. We were under pressure by losing too many wickets then. We don’t have much experience in fourth innings chases. We can improve ourselves by getting into such situations more.”

Overview
Rajasthan Royals have been in the news for all the wrong reasons over the last few months but the Champions League offers them a chance to bring the spotlight back to their cricket. The corruption scandal that came to the fore towards the end of this year’s IPL took much of the gloss away from what had been an excellent season for the Rahul Dravid-led side. Royals were one of two teams this year to remain unbeaten at home and despite lacking in star value when compared to other IPL teams, players like Brad Hodge, Stuart Binny, James Faulkner, Kevon Cooper, Ajinkya Rahane and the captain himself made their performances count.Royals have always been a personality driven team. From the days of Shane Warne to the current arrangement under a vocal version of Dravid, the team’s captain has remained the most visible part of it on the field. And understandably so – the biggest domestic player in the team Rahane is an introvert, so someone has to compensate to keep the young team buoyant.It will be the last time Dravid will be seen on the cricket field and after the sadness that came with the realisation he was sailing a ship with numerous holes, he would be looking forward to a good sign-off. Despite the heavy losses the team has incurred in terms of personnel, it still remains an efficient battery, with a cannon the size of Shane Watson. What’s more, they are playing all their league matches at their fortress.Key players
This IPL season, Shane Watson was intimidating with the bat, top-scoring for the team with 543 runs at a strike rate of 142.89, the highlight not being his century, but his 34-ball assault on Chennai Super Kings’ bowlers in seaming conditions. He also picked up 13 wickets, bowling for the first time after a gap of a few months. In the absence of Siddharth Trivedi he would assume a bigger role in the team’s bowling plans. Batting-wise, he is always a threat at this level, and his recent century against England will be a major boost to the team.Then there is Brad Hodge, the second-highest run-scorer in T20 cricket behind Chris Gayle, who brings that 196-match experience to lend stability to the batting line-up in the lower half. Add Rahane, the silent accumulator at the top, to the list and the batting has a sense of depth to it. The bowling will be led by Faulkner, who was second in the list of leading wicket-takers in IPL 6.Surprise package
Ashok Menaria featured in only one game in the IPL earlier this year, but he has struck rich form ahead of the tournament. Playing against New Zealand A, he picked up 10 wickets in three matches with his left-arm spin and scored a match-winning half-century as well. Along with Stuart Binny, he could form the backbone of the middle order.Weakness
In the IPL this year, Royals enjoyed the extra pace and bounce afforded by the Jaipur pitch and they will get the same home advantage in the Champions League. However, the teams they are going to play against include Perth Scorchers, Otago Volts and Lions, who would also prefer those conditions. In such a scenario, the absence of a quality spinner could hurt Royals. Pravin Tambe is the lone specialist spinner, but at 42 and with no first-class experience, his inclusion would always be a gamble.

Misbah-ul-Haq wanted Younis Khan to reach his double-century before calling an end to Pakistan’s second innings but said the senior batsman would have been fine even if the declaration had come before the individual landmark.Misbah declared late on day four as soon as Younis hit Prosper Utseya for six to move from 194 to 200, having lifted Pakistan from 169 for 5 to an imposing 419 for 9 to set Zimbabwe a target of 342. The hosts were dismissed for 120 on the final morning, with Saeed Ajmal and Abdur Rehman taking four wickets each.”I wanted Younis to get to 200 because he really deserved that,” Misbah said. “I told him how many overs I was going to give him. He was (on) 188 at the time and said, ‘no problem, you can declare as soon as you want’. He is a team man and he would not have said anything if I declared before he got to 200 but I wanted him to get it.”Younis was helped by No 7 Adnan Akmal and last man Rahat Ali in building Pakistan’s position, and he acknowledged their roles. “When you’ve played a lot of Test cricket, you know when to block and when to score runs,” Younis said. “I knew that if I batted for most of the day, I could take the lead to almost 300. I had a good partnership with Rahat Ali at the end. He helped me get to 200.”I think he (Adnan) is a much improved player. I just kept saying to him ‘play straight because even though their bowlers are doing well, soon you will get some runs.’ Quickly, he had 20 or 30 and when you have that you can go on and get more. That’s how Test cricket is.”Younis’ unbeaten 200 came after he fell for 3 in the first innings, in his first match for Pakistan in more than five months. He said it was a difficult proposition playing low-ranked teams such as Zimbabwe. “It’s very hard because if you do well everybody expects you to do well and if you don’t do well, people ask you why you didn’t do well,” Younis said. “At the end of the day, it is Test cricket and they are playing it because they are good. Look at it, for the first three-and-half days, Zimbabwe won every session and then we just won one or two sessions at the end and we won the match.”Despite taking a 78-run first-innings lead, Zimbabwe were unable to press their advantage and collapsed inside 40 overs on the final day. Younis held the home side’s inexperience responsible for their capitulation. “Teams like Zimbabwe need more Test cricket,” Younis said. “They need to get more experience because that is the only way they’ll know how to go on and win matches. That’s the same for everyone. That’s how you learn, when you play more Test cricket.”Misbah said he knew Zimbabwe would compete but was confident in Pakistan’s ability to recover lost ground. “I expected a fight but I must say they really gave us a tough time,” Misbah said. “They were in control for much of the match but I knew my team is capable of fighting back. I thought as long as we had 100 to 105 overs, we could bowl them out.”As it turned out, Pakistan needed just 46.4 overs to run through Zimbabwe, with Ajmal taking his match tally to 11 wickets. “He is a world-class bowler,” Misbah said. “Without him, I’d say we couldn’t even think of playing. He is a big advantage for us.”With Ajmal in such form and Rehman contributing in the second innings as well, Pakistan did not require the offspin of Mohammad Hafeez. “He is definitely fit for bowling,” Misbah said of the Pakistan Twenty20 captain. “He passed a fitness test before this match. But we wanted to use our frontline spinners and that’s why I didn’t use him.”

A succession of rash strokes and an inability to handle pressure brought Sri Lanka’s downfall in the first Twenty20 in Colombo, captain Dinesh Chandimal has said. Having restricted South Africa to 115 for 6, Sri Lanka mustered only 103 for 9 in their 20 overs, on a surface that presented no great obstacle for scoring runs.Sri Lanka had been 72 for 3 in the 14th over, but lost six wickets for 23 runs thereafter in which time they used up 32 balls. Kumar Sangakkara hit 59 off 53 and remained unbeaten at the close, but no other batsman in his company managed double figures.”There was nothing in the pitch that warranted scores that low,” Chandimal said. “The bowlers on both teams bowled very well, and for us, our batsmen we just didn’t play to the situation. Early on we lost two or three wickets and then played some rash shots. We played some really good cricket in the first half, but we didn’t have anyone to support Sangakkara. Not even one batsman stayed with him.”Chandimal said Sri Lanka had planned to use this series strategically, as they looked to build a Twenty20 side for the World Twenty20 in Bangladesh next year. As a result Sri Lanka’s most successful Twenty20 batsman, Mahela Jayawardene, did not play in this match, despite being available. The series moves to Hambantota for two matches now, and despite the failure in Colombo, Sri Lanka may not play their best XI there either.”We are giving the young players a chance in this series, because it’s the best chance to test our young players looking ahead to the World Twenty20 in five months’ time. Most probably, even in the next two matches, only two of our experienced players will take the field, so that we can give that place to a young player. The senior players can come into any match and perform, because they have that experience. We took that decision with the management and selection committee.”Chandimal’s promotion to No. 3 had also been made with development in mind. Sangakkara usually occupies the first-drop position across all formats, but was displaced to No. 4 against South Africa.”In the last ODI Lahiru Thirimanne had the chance to bat at three. In the ODIs, I didn’t get a chance to bat very much so that’s why I batted at three today. I’m also a No. 3 or 4 batsman and there was a plan to get some experience in the top order for the young players. Kumar is batting very well, so his game wouldn’t be affected. I accept though, that I didn’t bat well.”Thirimanne’s place in the Twenty20 side has also come under scrutiny, after he contributed a nine-ball five, and was caught on the fence attempting to hit out. The harder-hitting Angelo Perera would appear to be the better option for Sri Lanka in Twenty20s, but could not find a place in the side, although he is in the squad.”In some T20 matches Thirimanne bats really well. We also have to look at the future of Sri Lanka cricket. Thirimanne, Kusal Perera and myself can get experience and take Sri Lanka cricket forward. So it’s up to us to figure out how to learn quickly and perform well. We’re doing our best to do that. Angelo Perera is a really good Twenty20 batsman as well, and in the future we’ll have to see what our plans are and what our changes and combination will be.”

If there was optimism in Michael Clarke’s voice after Trent Bridge, it had turned to utter desolation at Lord’s. On the receiving end of Australia’s sixth consecutive Test defeat, a sequence last experienced in the grim days of 1984, Clarke was clearly upset by a hiding that has all but ended the team’s hopes of regaining the Ashes in England.Speaking frankly of the team’s myriad batting problems and the pressure that has placed on the bowlers, Clarke also conceded the defeats were taking a heavy toll on him, and said his own vision of what the Australian team should be had been shaken by a succession of losses that is now the equal of the run that ended Kim Hughes’ captaincy when repeatedly humbled by the West Indies.”Every team I’ve been a part of that’s lost – it’s obviously been extremely tough and you probably take it more personally when you’re captain of the team as well,” Clarke said. “Our performance with the bat in the first innings was unacceptable. The wicket was very good for batting, we had a great opportunity and we let ourselves down.”The reason you play any sport is to try and win – that’s the way I have been brought up. But half of my problem I guess is that I walked into such a great Australian team that won as a habit and that was something I became accustomed to and used to. I don’t want that to change. At the moment we are not performing as well as I would like. We are letting everyone down at the moment with the way we are batting. Our bowlers are fighting hard, we are making them bowl every single day because we are not putting enough runs on the board.”Clarke tackled the matter of Australia’s batting and the terminal lack of application and patience that has repeatedly hindered the team’s efforts to build match-shaping scores. In seven Test matches since January only two hundreds have been made by Australian batsmen – Matthew Wade against Sri Lanka in Sydney and Clarke himself in Chennai.”We’ve got plenty of experience in our top seven, we’ve seen already in this series that guys can score runs against this attack,” Clarke said. “Our shot selection was poor and we just didn’t have the discipline that England had. England were willing to bat for long periods and graft through the tough times – and we certainly weren’t in that first innings.””I don’t want anybody in our team to not play their natural game and not back their natural instinct. You have to do that 100 per cent. But like it or not, when you’re playing against good opposition there are going to be tough times in your innings as a batsman and you’ve got to find a way to get through that. In my career, the way I’ve tried to get through those periods is with my defence.”Causes for Australia’s lack of consistent run-scoring have been debated for some time and Clarke has commented strongly by his own choice of career path, shelving international Twenty20 duty to better prepare for Test matches and ODIs, while also skipping several domestic T20 tournaments in order to preserve his fragile back.”I think you learn that defence at the age of 10,” Clarke said. “Obviously there are three different formats we now play and there’s times through your career in T20 cricket, or one-day cricket where you make a 50 off 25 balls or a hundred off 50 balls, that’s a great innings. But I know in Test cricket, some of the best innings I’ve ever seen in my career are guys making a hundred off 350 balls. So there’s a time and a place.”I love all three forms. My reason to retire from T20 was to focus on ODI and Test cricket. I felt my game had to improve in certain areas to stay in the team. I try to use the time that I’m not playing T20 to improve my game. Everyone is in a different boat and different age and stage of life. I can’t make decisions for other people. There is room for all three formats in the game but you must be a very good player to perform at all three formats.”The player who has best met the demands of all three formats of the game is the now retired Michael Hussey. It cannot be a coincidence that over the past 12 months Australia are yet to win an international match overseas without him.