All posts by csb10.top

Family ties
Not since November 1978, when Mohinder and Surinder Amarnath played in the same XI, have two brothers represented India in an ODI. So when the Indians gathered to give Yusuf Pathan his cap before the start of Pakistan’s innings, it was a special moment. If he’d spent the dinner break doing his hair, the effort would have been wasted as his team-mates gave him the affectionate head ruffle before his brother Irfan embraced him warmly as the two walked out together.Should have just stayed in bed
Younis Khan had a shocking match right from the first over, when he grassed a straightforward chance at second slip to give Gautam Gambhir a reprieve on 4. He watched another ball fly past his left for four a while later but when Gambhir gave him an opportunity to make amends, Younis floored another simple chance in the cordon. Gambhir was on 29 and went on to make 62. It was about to get much worse for Younis. He came to bat in the third over of Pakistan’s chase and edged his first ball to Mahendra Singh Dhoni. It was his second consecutive duck, after having been run out without facing a ball against Bangladesh.The catch that wasn’t
After Younis had dropped two chances, Pakistan finally seemed to have got a breakthrough as Virender Sehwag edged Iftikhar Anjum to Kamran Akmal, who dived low to his right and held the catch with one glove. Or so they thought. After Akmal had thrown the ball up in celebration, Sehwag walked all the way to the boundary before a team-mate came out to tell him that replays showed the ball had touched the ground as Akmal completed his dive. Sehwag walked slowly back to the middle and after referring the decision to the third umpire, the on-field officials allowed him to continue batting. Sehwag promptly dispatched three of his next five balls to the boundary.One Royal against another
Sohail Tanvir and Yusuf were integral parts of the Rajasthan Royals’ IPL success story but in Mirpur they were on opposite sides. They had come up against each other once before, in the World Twenty20 final in Johannesburg when Yusuf scored one run off three balls from Tanvir. Today, Tanvir hit Yusuf on the pad twice in succession and each time roared an appeal for lbw. The first one was missing off stump but the second shout was terribly close.Reality bites
Wahab Riaz, Pakistan’s left-arm fast bowler, had a relatively easy baptism in international cricket against Zimbabwe and Bangladesh. India was his first stern test and he had a mixed day. One of the catches Younis dropped was off his bowling and the Indian openers took 32 in his first four overs. He came back strongly in his second spell by dismissing both Gambhir and Sehwag, but Dhoni pummelled him for three fours in an over during his final spell. His outing ended prematurely when he fired a beamer at Irfan which went for four; he had already bowled a high full toss at Yusuf earlier and had to be taken out of the attack.All’s well that ends well
After Wahab was barred from bowling, there were four balls remaining in the 46th over. Tanvir and Umar Gul had two left and Shoaib Malik, whose dodgy shoulder prevented him from bowing, decided to give Tanvir the ball with Irfan Pathan and Suresh Raina at the crease. The decision meant that a part-timer would have to bowl one over. Malik delayed giving the non-regular bowler an over until the 50th , by which time India had lost eight wickets. Younis bowled the final over at Praveen Kumar and Piyush Chawla, conceded only three runs and left with a massive smile on his face.The dirty ball doesn’t matter
The discoloured ball was difficult to spot from the press box as it streaked across the grass. In the 30th over of India’s innings, Yuvraj raised the issue of the ball being difficult to see with the umpire, but with the mandatory ball change just around the corner, his request was not met. It didn’t make much of a difference though, as Yuvraj managed to smack Iftikhar for a six over long-off in the 32nd over. We, in the press box, lost sight of it again.A painful free-hit
Riaz committed the only front-foot offence in India’s innings. His first attempt at getting the free-hit delivery right went awry and he sprayed it too wide outside off stump. The next attempt was spot on and the yorker crashed into Yuvraj’s boot off the inside edge. Yuvraj ran the single and then clutched his boot in pain at the non-striker’s end.

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.

Darren Gough could be included in the England line-up to meet Queensland in their last warm-up match before the first Test of the Ashes series. The Yorkshire fast bowler’s recovery from injury has gone more quickly than expected since England’s arrival in Australia, and he has bowled several sessions in spikes in the nets without any reaction from his troublesome knee.Gough fielded for part of the final day of the drawn match against Western Australia in Perth and will have another workout tomorrow before England decide whether he will face Queensland.”He’s improving every day,” said the England coach, Duncan Fletcher. “We put him on the field in the last match for a bit of fielding just to get some mileage into his legs, but we’ll make a decision on Friday after he’s had another good bowl.”Gough’s Yorkshire teammate Michael Vaughan is also expected to make his comeback from recent knee surgery against Queensland, so there are several dilemmas over the exact composition of the side.”The selection of this next three-day game is going to be very difficult,”Fletcher admitted. “Nasser (Hussain) and I have got quite a difficult job trying to get the balance right.”Who do we give a game to and get mileage into their legs, or do we pick theTest side? There are a lot of questions that need to be asked and we have to come up with some answers over the next few days.”People say (Andrew) Caddick likes to bowl overs, but he bowled a lot in Perth and you have to be careful because he’s our senior bowler at the moment. Those are the sort of decisions we have to make and we have to come up with an answer which hopefully will be the right answer, but we’ll be hoping to play as close to the Test side as we can.”Meanwhile Andrew Flintoff, who joined up with the Academy in Adelaide to speed up his recovery from a double hernia operation, will also face a fitness test before a decision is made about whether he is fit enough for a three-day match.Fast bowler Simon Jones is keen to play against Queensland after impressing with a five-wicket second innings haul against Western Australia.”He’s slowly building up his confidence within himself, he looks more confident,” said Fletcher. “He’s been concerned about his line and length, but he’s bowled with a lot of control since he’s been here which is very encouraging.”He’s slowly built up his pace, but we don’t want to rush these guys intothings. We could have come out here and told him to bowl flat out and lost hisline and length and it’s very hard to get that back again.”We’ve just tried to control him and just gradually build him up a little bit. He might get a game next week and hopefully he will be able to bowl a little bit quicker for longer spells which is important.”

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.

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.

In the recent poll conducted on the Southern Electric Premier League web-site, it has become obvious that the original format of playing regular 50 over cricket is still favourite.Asked their views on which format of the game – either all-day or 50 overs or a combination of both – they preferred if it covered all three divisions, 36 of the 82 voters (43.9%) felt the tried-and-tested formula was best.Only 5 people voted (6.1%) for a complete overhaul to a full programme of all-day matches while 17 (20.7%) felt the current playing conditions for Division One suited.Interestingly, while the number of votes for a full all-day list was minimal, the choice of having more all-day than 50 over games received 22 votes (26.8%).The other alternative, having more 50 over games than all-day raised just two votes (2.4%).An interesting poll which has guaged the feelings of the league’s web site visitors on their feeling about the ECB accreditation rulings.

Portable pitch technology will take a significant step in New Zealand when the pitch for the first National Bank Test against England at Jade Stadium will be a portable pitch.It will be only the third time in a Test in New Zealand that a portable pitch has been used, and the second time in Christchurch.Last summer, in the second Test against Pakistan, the Jade portable saw double centuries scored by each side, Mathew Sinclair for New Zealand and Yousuf Youhana for Pakistan. The game was a dull draw.Before that the first Test in Auckland was a victory to Pakistan on the first portable used at Eden Park.However, with another year of development, New Zealand Cricket has taken the step of deciding to use the Jade portable 24 hours before the scheduled announcement.Earlier, NZC chief executive Martin Snedden said a decision on which pitch would be used for the Test match would be made tomorrow after the effects of tonight’s Super 12 match at the ground had been assessed.The pitch was to have been covered with an artificial surface to protect it during the match.However, NZC operations manager John Reid announced today that core samples taken of both the natural and portable pitches had resulted in the decision to go with the portable pitch.The samples had produced positive readings which suggested the pitch would have excellent pace and bounce.”The grass cover on the pitch is also outstanding, giving confidence that the pitch will provide very good playing conditions,” Reid said.”Given the sample test results we have decided to proceed with the portable pitch as our preferred option for the Test match at Jade Stadium,” he added.Jade Stadium turf manager Chris Lewis backed Reid’s assessment and is very confident in the quality of the portable pitch.Reid said: “We are acutely aware that the last Test played on a portable pitch at Jade Stadium did not produce a result, but all the indications about the portable prepared for this match are extremely positive.”We are confident that portable pitches are a technology that cricket needs to embrace if it is to successfully share venues with other sports and provide high quality playing conditions for the its players.”The New Zealand Sports Turf Institute carried out the sampling programme yesterday.

Jon Holland is one of the two best spinners in Australia at the moment, according to the national selector John Inverarity. The problem is getting a chance to prove it.Although Nathan Lyon remains the front-runner for the spin position in Australia’s squad for the first Test against South Africa early next month, the pressure will build on Lyon if Holland piles up the wickets over the next fortnight. That can only happen if Victoria’s world-class pace attack led by James Pattinson, Peter Siddle, John Hastings and Clint McKay don’t skittle opposition teams. And at the moment, they’re making batsmen from all over the country look like Chris Martin.That has created a selection dilemma for Victoria, who must also squeeze Andrew McDonald back into the side after his return from the Champions League Twenty20. Inverarity’s panel wants to see Holland given game time, especially after his strong performances during the Australia A tour of England during the winter. On that trip, Holland picked up ten wickets at 27.30 compared to Lyon’s eight at 48.75, which confirmed that he had jumped ahead of Michael Beer in the national queue.”I think it’s fair to say that we’re of the view that the two best spinners we’ve got just at this moment are Nathan Lyon and Jon Holland,” Inverarity said in Sydney on Tuesday.”I saw [Holland] bowl in Adelaide last year in a one-dayer when he got 6 for 29 and he bowled beautifully. There was a variation in spin, a variation in pace and he flighted the ball, he bowled beautifully. We took him on the Australia A tour and he bowled very well. We all go through patches, and Lyon was in a bad patch in England and Holland outbowled him. But Lyon in Adelaide was bowling very differently to the way he bowled in England.”Wickets have not been forthcoming for Lyon early in the Sheffield Shield season – he has two victims at 112.50 – but he remains the Test incumbent and appears likely to retain his place for now. But the glowing praise from Inverarity, who himself took 221 first-class wickets bowling left-arm orthodox, has given Holland heart that he is on the right track, and that an opportunity in the baggy green could come at any time.”It’s pretty good to hear that from the chairman of selectors for Australia,” Holland told ESPNcricinfo. “But I’m more focused on playing for Victoria at the moment. If that comes along then so be it. But Nathan Lyon is bowling pretty well and he’s done a good job with his opportunities. I dare say he’s still in front.”On the A trip he [Inverarity] was over in England, I spoke to him a few times there. He’s been pretty happy with the way I bowl, the way I go about things with my flight. He picked up something with my action in Brisbane on a pre-season camp, I was falling over a bit and my head was going to one side, he said to try and keep that as straight as possible.”Every little piece of advice is a bonus for Holland, who at 25 has been on the domestic scene for four years, and on the minds of Australia’s selectors for most of that time. He was called up for Australia’s ODI tour of India in October 2009 but did not play a game, and has now had four stints at the Centre of Excellence in Brisbane, gradually developing his art.Initially, his opportunities with Victoria were limited by the presence of the legspinner Bryce McGain, but over the past two years Holland has clearly been the Bushrangers’ frontline slow bowler. He is yet to take a first-class five-wicket haul, but that is not unusual for an Australian spinner on the cusp of a call-up – Nathan Hauritz and Nathan Lyon both claimed their maiden five-wicket hauls while playing Test cricket.Now his chances are dictated by the success of Victoria’s fast men. In the first two Sheffield Shield games this season, Holland was bowled a total of 10 overs and has taken 0 for 34.”There hasn’t really been a great deal in the wickets for me,” he said. “But with the bowling attack we’ve had, James Pattinson and Peter Siddle are world-class bowlers and Clint McKay, John Hastings and Andrew McDonald aren’t too far behind them. They’ve done a really good job in the first two games and have taken wickets on a regular basis, so I wasn’t really required at all, which is a good thing from a team point of view. It’s always good to take a few wickets yourself but as long as we’re winning I’m not really that fussed.”Next week, Holland will have the chance to bowl at the MCG for the first time this season – assuming he is picked to play Tasmania – and it’s a venue that is unlikely to offer him much spin. But much like Daniel Vettori, Holland’s key weapon is not prodigious turn but subtle changes of pace, and he is confident that his style will allow him to have success on any surface.”It’s pretty important on Australian wickets that you do change your pace and your flight, because you don’t get much help out of the wicket,” he said. “The MCG last year was fairly flat, it didn’t really break up and take much spin. But as long as I’m consistently bowling in the one area it should be right on any pitches and in any conditions. As long as I’m hitting the right spot and changing my pace I don’t think I need to vary my bowling too much.”For the time being, just getting a bowl would be a start.

Central Zone were struggling at 169 for 6 against South Zone at the end ofthe second day in the CK Nayudu Trophy (under-19) final at the BarabatiStadium in Cuttack on Monday. South Zone who were comfortably placed at 303for 6 on the first day were restricted to a first innings total of 377.Central were off to a bad start losing opener Anshu Kapoor (12) in thefourth over of the innings. Kapoor was caught by ASK Varma off the TamilNadu seamer L Balaji. Amit Deshpande soon joined his partner in thepavilion. Off the last ball of the fifth over bowled by Kerala pacemanSteve Lazarus, Deshpande was bowled leaving Central Zone in a spot ofbother at 26 for 2. But Sachin Dholpure (31) and Raza Ali (44) cametogether to take the score to 75. Sachin was the next to be dismissed whenhe lost his defences to G Shankar Rao.Raza Ali and Afroj Khan (35) forged a 51-run stand for the fourth wicketbefore Raza Ali was run out. And at the fag end of the day Central Zonelost two quick wickets which brought the pressure back on them. Mohd Faiqfirst had Manoj Srivastava bowled for 14. Then Balaji came back to pick upthe wicket of Afroj Khan by shattering his stumps. Surender Singh (4) andChandrashekar Atram (0) were manning the crease at stumps.Earlier, the South Zone overnight batsmen Mohd Faiq (9) and Vijay Sai Suri(29) were separated in the fourth over of the day. Sai Suri was the firstto be dismissed when he was bowled by Sunil Upadhay. Then Shankar Rao (23)joined Faiq to take the score to 335. Faiq was then run out. Lazarus, whoreplaced him, lasted exactly five balls and was then bowled by Atram for aduck. However, the last wicket pair of Shankar Rao and L Balaji (24 notout) added 41 useful runs before Shankar Rao was bowled by Raza Ali. SunilUpadhay (4 for 89) was the most successful bowler for Central Zone.

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.