All posts by csb10.top

BRISBANE, July 31 AAP – Bill Brown has turned 90 and Australia’s oldest living Test cricketer still loves the sport, even though he’s not taken with sledging or one-day matches.Brown celebrated his birthday in Brisbane today with family and friends, including Walter Hadlee, who led New Zealand against Brown’s Australians in 1946.It was the only time Brown captained Australia but he packed plenty into his 22-Test career, including two centuries at Lord’s and hundreds of days alongside some of the game’s greatest names.He played through most of the Don Bradman era, played against English stars such as Len Hutton and Walter Hammond, and finished his career as part of the Invincibles tour of England in 1948.Brown still follows cricket closely from his Brisbane home, with a vivid memory of his playing days, and today repeated his admiration for Australian Test captain Steve Waugh.But he wasn’t speaking in the same glowing terms of sledging and match-fixing, while admitting he didn’t follow one-day matches closely, preferring the “cut-and-thrust” of Tests.”I obviously find match-fixing abhorrent,” Brown said.”And one of the key things which has crept into the game which I’m not keen about would be the sledging.”I don’t like any form of sledging, that’s it.”We asked Sir Donald Bradman once about sledging and what he would do and he said `I would give them one warning and if they didn’t stop it they wouldn’t be in the side anymore’.”We had a far better accord with the opposition players than they do now although no longer being a player I can’t say too much.”It’s hard to imagine Brown being anything but pleasant during his long life and marriage to Barbara.Brown said he didn’t know much about life aged in the nineties, except that he would use the same formula which he used while bating in the nervous nineties.”Plenty of short, sharp singles,” Brown said.”With anything, you need a bit of luck and I’ve been fortunate to have a wonderful life.”According to cricket statistician Ross Dundas, Brown becomes the seventh Australian Test player to live into his nineties.Australia’s oldest Test cricketer was Ken Burn, who died in 1956 aged 93 years and 307 days.

Somerset Sabres were beaten by the umpires decision at the County Ground today, where they lost to Glamorgan in the NUL by one wicket.Batting first the Sabres had slipped to 40 for 4 before Mike Burns (51) and Matthew Wood (58) rescued the innings.Graham Rose scored an invaluable unbeaten 20, including a six off the final ball to help the Sabres reach a respectable 220 for 9.Rose then got Somerset off to a good start by removing Steve James in the first over, and then Steffan Jones removed Robert Croft and David Hemp in quick succession as the Dragons slumped to 20 for 3.Matthew Maynard then hit some expansive shots to make a quick 36, and Adrian Dale(63) and Michael Powell (32) added 75 for the 5th wicket to put Glamorgan back into the game.During the Glamorgan innings there were two interruptions for rain , which had reduced the target to 209 from 39 overs.Over the last ten overs the game fluctuated in favour of both teams, but the visitors went into the last over requiring 12 runs with their last pair at the wicket.However unknown to spectators the umpires had penalised Somerset six runs because of a slow over rate and the final pair saw Glamorgan home of the penultimate ball of the match.After the game Kevin Shine told me: "I was dumbstruck, this is an unbelievable situation. I never thought that we were bowling slowly at any time. In fact Simon Francis was running back to his mark."He continued: "A silly rule has brought about a sad finish to the game today. There were some excellent performances from some of our players, but that decision just tarnishes the outcome. Cricket was not allowed to run its course today and we are as sick as parrots."

As to when Shoaib Akhtar will be given the all clear to board the plane for England and join the Pakistan squad was still not clear. This correspondent, however, has learnt that Akhtar is in training and has been put through some medical tests on Thursday and Friday. The results of these tests were likely to be known on Saturday (May 5), said a PCB spokesman. Only after the result of these tests is in, the date of his departure will be decided, added the spokesman. “These tests were carried out to determine his complete medical fitness for the tour, and these could not be held earlier as he was down with stomach ailment and fever”, said the spokesman.Akhtar believes that the result of the medical reports would give him a clean bill of health. In the meanwhile, Akhtar is back in training and has bowled almost an entire session here at a prestigious local club’s (the Lahore Gymkhana) famed Bagh-e-Jinnah nets. He played a minor friendly game in which he bowled six overs at red hot pace but did not take a wicket. That augurs well for the Pakistan team, which had pinned a lot of hopes on Akhtar’s inspiring fear and awe in the England line-up and displays the same wicket-taking skills that he had during the 1999 World Cup.Akhtar for his part was quite emphatic that he had already regained a great deal in terms of fitness. “I am eager to join the team in England, and hopefully would be able to do so shortly, after I get an all-clear from the medical tests”, said he.

Australia, though rattled in the Colombo Test, are still favourites to clinch the three-match series by winning the second Test starting Friday here at the Sharjah Cricket Stadium.And if Steve Waugh and his men are able to tame a youthful Pakistan side it will be Australia’s fifth successive Test triumph over Pakistan. When the two teams met last Down Under in 1999-2000, Australia whitewashed Wasim Akram-led Pakistan side 3-0.Sharjah has been a happy hunting ground for Pakistan but the present Australian team is without doubt the world’s best Test side and it will require something out of the ordinary to stop the baggy green juggernaut taking an unbeatable 2-0 lead.Conditions here are similar to Sri Lanka and the oppressive heat and humidity will be felt by both the teams as the mercury is likely to hover around 40 degrees Celsius making bowling and fielding a tough proposition over the next five days if the match lasts that long.On paper and in terms of performance the Australians have upper hand in all three departments of the game, batting, bowling and fielding. Despite the sensational collapse in the second innings in Colombo triggered by the express pace of Shoaib Akhtar, Aussies batting is formidable.With gangling Glenn McGrath and spin king Shane Warne backed up by tearaway Brett Lee, the Aussies have the arsenal to undo Pakistan’s vulnerable batting which invariably crumbles when put under pressure.If one goes by the words of groundsmen and pitch experts the track is going to be slow, offering some assistance to spinners from the third day onwards. And in all probability both the teams are likely to replace one seamer with a spinner although the final eleven will be announced just before the toss.Pakistan are expected to bring in young leg-spinner Danish Kaneria in place of speedster Mohammad Sami while Australia could induct uncapped off-spinner Nathan Hauritz for the injured Jason Gillespie although the pacer’s replacement Brad Williams has arrived.Reuters adds: Pakistan will target Steve Waugh in an attempt to make the Australia captain’s 150th Test appearance as uncomfortable as possible.Waugh and his twin brother Mark both made second innings ducks in Australia’s first Test win and have come under further pressure to justify their places in the Australia team.”No doubt Steve is a great player and has played some fine cricket at the highest level but we are not in mood to give him, or for that matter, other players any inch,” Pakistan skipper Waqar Younis told reporters Thursday.Steve Waugh discounted any suggestion that the Test would be a special landmark.”It’s just another Test for me,” he said. “The idea is to play well, score some runs, captain the side well and win the match for Australia.”Australia, for their part, need to counter Shoaib, who took five wickets in 15 balls in the first Test.”He did turn the match for a while, but in the end we won. That’s what matter in the final analyses,” Waugh said.Teams (from):Pakistan: Waqar Younis (captain), Imran Nazir, Taufiq Umar, Abdul Razzaq, Younis Khan, Misbah-ul-Haq, Faisal Iqbal, Rashid Latif, Shoaib Akhtar, Saqlain Mushtaq, Danish Kaneria, Mohammed Sami.Australia: Steve Waugh (captain), Justin Langer, Matthew Hayden, Ricky Ponting, Mark Waugh, Damien Martyn, Adam Gilchrist, Shane Warne, Brett Lee, Glenn McGrath, Nathan Hauritz, Brad Williams, Andy Bichel, Darren Lehmann.Umpires: Srinivas Venkataraghavan (India) and Steve Bucknor (West Indies).TV umpire: Nadeem Ghauri (Pakistan).Match referee: Clive Lloyd (West Indies).

The National cricket selectors have named the following South African squadfor the first Castle Lager/MTN Test match against Sri Lanka at the Wanderersfrom the 8th to the 12th of November.Shaun Pollock – Captain, Mark Boucher – Vice-captain, Steve Elworthy, Herschelle Gibbs, Andrew Hall, Mornantau Hayward, Claude Henderson, Jacques Kallis, Gary Kirsten, Neil McKenzie, Makhaya Ntini, Ashwell Prince, Graeme Smith.Coach: Eric Simons
Assistant Coach: Corrie van Zyl
Physiotherapist: Shane Jabbar
Fitness Trainer: Andrew Gray
Manager: Goolam Rajah
National selection convener Omar Henry said the final eleven will be namedon the morning of the Test. He added: “Neil McKenzie has shown good formlately, and his century in Kimberley for the A side last weekend wasimpressive”.McKenzie’s Titans teammate, fast bowler Steve Elworthy, is recalled, havingalso impressed the selectors for the A side. His last of two Test matcheswas at the Basin Reserve in Wellington, New Zealand in 1999.In form Easterns all rounder Andrew Hall, who like Elworthy was named one ofSouth Africa’s Mutual and Federal Five Cricketers of the year last month,has been rewarded for his consistent performances with both bat and ballthis season.

Otago Cricket are determined to make the most of their One-Day International in Queenstown this year when New Zealand will play India.Coming at peak holiday time on January 4, with TelstraClear Black Cap players like Chris Cairns, Shane Bond, Nathan Astle, Andre Adams, Craig McMillan and Indian players like Sachin Tendulkar, Virender Sehwag, Sourav Ganguly and Rahul Dravid, the game should be a huge attraction.Otago Cricket’s chief executive Graeme Elliott said the news was exciting for the region and he anticipates the Queenstown Events Centre will be capable of holding around 8000 people and he said the ideal situation would be to pre-sell the ground.However, whether that happens is still to be decided.In the meantime, Otago Cricket, New Zealand Cricket and the Queenstown Lakes District Council are working together to have the playing surface upgraded from that which caused some problems during the Otago-England three-day match this year.”There is quite a lot to do,” Elliott said. “There is drainage work, new practice pitches to go in and the wicket block has to be raised slightly.”Providing media facilities off the ground and one or two other crowd facilities would also need to be completed.Elliott said one of the problems during the England game had been that because the ground was level, there was a concern with rain on the outfield flowing under the covers. This caused delays on two of the days of play.He said there would be no problem raising the block and there were to be drains cleared that had prevented thorough drainage last year.”We are confident we can have all of the work done by the end of September. And that will allow the grass to come away during the early months of summer,” he said.”This is a one-off situation because of the World Cup but we want to do it really well,” he said.It was important for Otago cricket that at least one international cricket fixture was played in the region each summer and with the earlier tours that are now taking place, Queenstown was an ideal venue to promote.The traditional Central Otago venue at Molyneux Park in Alexandra would not miss out as two State Shield games are to be played there between Christmas and New Year.”There is no doubt it is a stunning venue. And when you walk through the airport after arriving, [the airport is at the southern end of the ground] there is no doubt that you are at an international resort,” he said.Local government authorities in Queenstown were very keen to be involved in the event, and Elliott said some thorough research would be done to determine just how many the ground could hold.

The once-prestigious Duleep Trophy has met with the ultimatehumiliation. With the Board of Control for Cricket in India(BCCI) changing its format from an inter-zonal competition to onewhere the contestants will be three teams drawn from playersinvolved in the elite division of the reshaped Ranji Trophy andtwo teams from the Plate Division of the Ranji Trophy, the DuleepTrophy has been shorn of all its glamour and importance.

Over the years, the competition has slowly lost its place as thepre-eminent national tournament, thanks first to the players whoregularly gave it a miss and then to the administrators whoscheduled the competition in a haphazard manner, changing theformat from a knock-out to league and back again. Last season,for example, the tournament was played at the fag end of theseason, when interest among players and cricket-followers wasbound to be lukewarm.But at least the format was retained, and for budding players,there was no more prestigious tournament. A place in the zonalDuleep side was much sought after by youngsters who did well inthe Ranji Trophy. They were aware that it represented the finalstepping-stone towards an India cap. Indeed, over the last 40years, one has lost count of the number of stars who stepped onto the international stage with a notable performance in theDuleep Trophy.Getting into the zonal side was a matter of pride, but with thechange of format, one doubts that the same honour will beassociated with the tournament any more. A cricketer used to saywith pride that he represented South Zone or West Zone or NorthZone. What will he say now? With zonal identification missing,the importance of the tournament is no longer relevant.The Duleep tournament was inaugurated in 1961-62 and came as awhiff of fresh air in the sick domestic circuit. The RanjiChampionship, after more than 25 years, had lost much of itssheen and glamour, and the dwindling crowds said it all. It washoped that the Duleep Trophy, a more glamorous tournamentinvolving the best players from the five zones, would do much tobring back interest in domestic cricket.And for many years, the zing was indeed very much in evidence.Matches were of a high standard, competition was keen, and thefeats of the leading lights in the game in the country werefollowed with fervour. Notable Duleep Trophy deeds were apassport, as it were, to a place in the Indian team.The first two decades of the Duleep was the tournament’s goldenperiod. >From the early 80s, the devaluation commenced. With theinternational calendar getting heavier, stars started giving thecompetition a miss. Often the Duleep Trophy had the tag of beinga “glorified trial,” held just prior to selecting an Indian teamfor a tour.Through the 80s and 90s, the Duleep Trophy gradually became justanother domestic tournament to be conducted without anyparticular planning by the BCCI. By this time the internationalcommitments had become even heavier, so the competing teamsgenerally consisted of the second string of players. Notunexpectedly, the crowds stayed away. A brief flirtation for afew years of holding the competition on a league basis did notchange matters much. Indeed, many players complained that it onlymade the Duleep Trophy needlessly long-winded in an already heavydomestic season.But throughout these four decades, the tournament was held eitherat the start of the season or halfway through, so the playerswere still fresh and had something to play for. With the BCCIshifting last year’s competition to March – April, the tournamentsuffered a grievous insult.Now comes the crowning humiliation. There was really no need forthe BCCI to take such a drastic change in the composition of theteams. Even if, over the years, the tournament has lost much ofits initial glamour, it must not be forgotten that it is stillimportant for budding players eager to climb the ladder ofsuccess. It will not give them the same degree of thrill, successand fulfillment even if they do well in its new .This is needless tinkering with an important competition, andwhile the domestic circuit has to be restructured, this is notthe way to go about it. The BCCI, in the process, has also shownscant respect to the great cricketer after whom the trophy hasbeen named.

Former top West Indies opening batsman Desmond Haynes is urging cricket officials to put a pension plan in place for former Barbados cricketers.The Government senator made his suggestion in an address at a dinner in honour of former Barbados leg-spinner George Linton at the Lester Vaughan School on Saturday night."We must begin to recognise cricket as a profession and, indeed, treat all other professional sports persons with the same respect as we do other professions," he said. "We must stop making sport at sports."Linton was a consistent performer for Barbados as a leg-spinner and reliable lower-order batsman in 23 first-class matches in which he made 583 runs (ave. 23.82) and took 66 wickets (ave. 30.71).This year, the Barbados Cricket Association (BCA) is staging a series of activities in which all funds raised will be presented to Linton."I wish to take this opportunity to call on the BCA to facilitate a pension plan for former cricketers like George and, indeed, those who are playing now, so that they would not need to go cap in hand to the public after retirement," Haynes said."Benefit functions like this one would be a bonus."He added that someone like Linton, who had made such an outstanding contribution to the game at the local level, should not be made to "suffer in his old age".Since his retirement as a player, Linton has been coaching and several of his charges have gone on to play for national senior and youth teams."Not many people realise the sacrifices made by people like George who, in the main, volunteer their services to help in the success of good cricketers," Haynes said.Haynes was Linton’s Barbados teammate in the 1980s and his roommate when both were playing in the leagues in England.Haynes described Linton as a man with determination and courage."What sets George apart, is his dedication to his purpose of assisting young cricketers," Haynes said."He can be called upon at any time to share his views and to offer advice. His value is in his ability to get things done."

Former Tasmanian Tigers Coach, Greg Shipperd was today named as the new High Performance Coordinator / Assistant Coach of the Victorian Bushrangers.Shipperd, who had coached Tasmania since the 1991/92 season, was delighted with his appointment. "I see the move as a new and exciting challenge for not only myself, but my family. I’m really looking forward to working closely with David Hookes and the players to ensure the Bushrangers are a respected and successful team within Australian cricket".Victorian Cricket Association (VCA) Chief Executive Officer, Ken Jacobs said the appointment was a positive one for Victorian cricket. "The VCA is extremely fortunate to now have a person with the experience and skills of Greg Shipperd within our structure. His legacy on Tasmanian cricket is well respected and he will have a major influence not only on the Bushrangers, but all our elite cricket programs".Shipperd 45, played 112 first-class matches for his native Western Australia and Tasmania in a career spanning 15 seasons, also touring South Africa with the rebel Australian sides between 1985-87. He will commence employment at the VCA on Monday, June 17, 2002.

International off-spinner Shoaib Malik’s bowling action looks suspectonly for one particular delivery otherwise his action has no fault noragainst the ICC rules.This is the finding of two-man PCB Group of Bowling Advisors formerTest off-spinner Ijaz Fakih and fast bowler Mohsin Kamal.Malik wasreported for suspect bowling action during last Sharjah Cup.The Bowling Advisors, examined the video footage of Malik on Thursdayat the Gaddafi Stadium and gave their ruling on Friday. The footagewas received from the ICC. The advisors observed that Shoaib Malik’sarm for one particular delivery which goes the other way for the offspinner, apparently seems to deviate from the ICC rules otherwise hisaction was faultlessIt was decided by the PCB that Malik would be trained by the formerTest off-spinner and now an umpire, Mohammad Nazir Junior, in thePakistan National Academy which would start at the Gaddafi Stadiumfrom May 14, to remove technical flaws with his action. Earlier,Malik’s bowling action was physically examined by the Advisors onApril 26.The third member of Advisors Iqbal Sikandar could not attend themeeting as he is presently in England and attending coaching course.