All posts by csb10.top

Sabina Park in Jamaica will host two Test matches in the current West Indian season, after one of the two Tests against Bangladesh was switched from Georgetown in Guyana.Zorol Barthley, the West Indies Cricket Board’s chief operations officer, explained: “The Guyana Cricket Board has informed us that the timing of the tour coincides with their rainy season, hence the change.”St Lucia’s Beausejour Stadium, originally the venue for the second Test,will now host the first one (May 28 to June 1), and the second Test will now take place at Sabina Park from June 4 to 8.Bangladesh will also play three one-day Internationals against West Indies – at St Vincent’s Arnos Vale Playing Field on May 15 and 16, and Grenada’s Queen’s Park Stadium on May 19. It will be Bangladesh’s first full tour of the Caribbean, although their A team took part in the West Indian first-class competition two years ago.Revised schedule:
May 15 – 1st ODI – St Vincent
May 16 – 2nd ODI – St Vincent
May 19 – 3rd ODI – Grenada
May 28-June 1 – 1st Test – St Lucia
June 4-8 – 2nd Test – Jamaica

Kenya’s Intercontinental Cup match against Namibia has been switched from Nairobi to Sharjah as a result of the ongoing violence in Kenya which has claimed more than 600 lives.Kenya were due to travel to there later this week to play UAE, but that match has now been postponed until after the rearranged four-day game with Namibia which will now start on January 29. Kenya will then play UAE starting on February 4.Kenya has been rocked by civil unrest since the highly disputed election victory by President Kibaki in elections on December 27. More than 250,000 people have fled there homes and some regions remain virtual no-go areas.At the weekend an ICC spokesman told Cricinfo that the situation was being monitored, but it seems that a decision was taken sooner rather than later to enable both sides to plan properly.Kenya, meanwhile, resumed training yesterday with only one unexplained absentee, Alfred Luseno. The selectors have apparently been given another option by the late return of Collins Obuya from playing club cricket in Australia. The local media reported that he had returned to press for a place in the side.

Jayawardene: “We have moved forward very well after the tsunami and made a lot of leaps and bounds in their lives as well. It’s a celebration moment to come back here and play a Test match” © Getty Images

Mahela Jayawardene has said the motivation to win the final Test against England starting Tuesday in Galle is to move up to the No. 2 spot in the ICC Test team rankings. Sri Lanka are leading the three-Test series 1-0.”We haven’t been there [No. 2] for quite some time and I can’t remember when we were there last,” Jayawardene said. “It’s a very good incentive for us to go out there and play our best cricket and win this Test.”Sri Lanka are currently at fifth place in the rankings, with four points less than Nos. 3 and 4, South Africa and India, who have 109 each. Jaywardene said his side had been performing consistently and had beaten the top teams of the world, home and away. “We haven’t stopped from there, but we improved on it. We got a younger group of players who are coming through. We need to guide them and make sure we push forward.”Out of 21 Tests they have played in the last two years, starting from the series in India in December 2005, Sri Lanka have won 10 and lost seven. Six of the ten wins have come at home. During this period they have won three series, two in Sri Lanka and one in Bangladesh.Jayawardene’s own record in Galle is impressive. He scored his maiden Test hundred here and has three centuries and six half-centuries from 11 matches at the venue. In the last Test he played here in 2004, before the tsunami devastated Sri Lanka, he made 237 in a draw against South Africa.”It’s an emotional comeback. We’ve seen the changes that have taken place three years after the tsunami. There are a lot of memories on this ground and a lot of people who probably have seen us play here three years ago are not with us. We have moved forward very well after the tsunami and made a lot of leaps and bounds in their lives as well. It’s a celebration moment to come back here and play a Test match. It’s been a historical venue for us over a period. I am very happy to be here and play another Test, hopefully we’ll have new fans.”Jayawardene said he would wait until tomorrow to finalise the XI. “We fairly have an idea what the wicket could do. Usually the square tends to have some bounce we have a fairly good idea of what we want to do. Around 9AM to 9.15AM the ball was doing a bit, but once it got dried up it was playing really well, the odd one would do a bit because of the dampness.”He confirmed that Tillakaratne Dilshan, who replaced Jehan Mubarak in the squad, will bat at No. 6 and was not too worried about the toss result. If you can really knuckle down in tough situations and get the advantage going for you, you should be able to turn things around, like we did in Kandy.”

	Jamie Siddons: “The potential of our opening combination of Tamim Iqbal and Junaid Siddique is pretty enormous as well” © Getty Images

Jamie Siddons, the Bangladesh coach, has said the team’s stunted progress in Tests is because of the previous team management’s short-term goals.”I think we’ve had a short-term vision, trying to win games as we go,” Siddons told tigercricket.com. “I think my vision is more long-term with young players brought in purely on skill and talent, which have been identified.”Bangladesh had a miserable tour of New Zealand, losing all three one-dayers and then being beaten inside three days in the two Tests. “We’ve got a great group at the moment but I’m sure there are a couple of players who need to be looked at back home.”Siddons said the team had potential which would be visible in three to four months. “The potential of our opening bowlers Mashrafe [Mortaza] and Shahadat [Hossain] is enormous. The potential of our opening combination of Tamim [Iqbal] and Junaid [Siddique] is pretty enormous as well.”However, Siddons said Bangladesh’s development into a competitive side would take a while. “I have to say two years as my contract is for that period but it may even take longer to reach the level where we can compete properly with New Zealand in New Zealand, which is a tough ask for any international cricket team.”What was important, Siddons said, was that the current squad stay together along with the support staff he had picked out. “They [the team] need to travel with the coaching staff I have chosen which I think is supposedly the best coaching staff around in Bangladesh. I’d love this 15 to stay together as long as we can.”Meanwhile, Tamim, who broke his thumb while fielding during the second Test in Wellington, was asked to put a splinter on the injury. “The splinter would come off in two to three weeks and an x-ray will be done after that,” Darryn Lifson, the Bangladesh physio, said. “Based on the report we’ll have an idea about when he can start training.”

A batsman in a hurry: Michael Clarke starred in the VB Series© Getty Images

Michael Clarke is ready to step back in as Australia’s opener if Matthew Hayden fails to recover from a shoulder injury for Saturday’s third one-day match against New Zealand at Auckland. Hayden replaced Clarke for the opening two matches of the current series, scoring 71 and 114, but said he was not going to play “half-baked”.Cleared of bone damage, Hayden did not bat in the nets this morning and a decision will be made on his fitness tomorrow. If Hayden is missing it will be an opportunity to give Clarke another promotion after a great run as opener in the VB Series. Clarke scored 334 runs at 66.8 going in first in Australia, but has had limited opportunities since slipping back to No. 6 to accommodate Hayden.”What we’ve got to do now is get Clarke and Andrew Symonds a bit more time in the middle,” Ricky Ponting told the Courier-Mail. “They’re just a bit frustrated with the amount of time they have had to bat in the first couple of games.”Hayden said his right shoulder made a popping sound as he dived to take the catch from Chris Cairns on Tuesday, and he would not play if it had not healed. “I’ve got pretty good movement in it so I don’t think it’s going to be too bad an injury – although at the moment it’s pretty sore,” Hayden said. “I’m not going to play half-baked. That would hurt the side and hurt me.”Ponting also said Australia might experiment with some young players over the next couple of months with the 2007 World Cup in mind. “We’ve got 11 one-dayers before the Ashes and maybe there is an opportunity there,” he said. “There are enough games to start blooding those youngsters.”

An interesting final day’s play is on the cards in the Buchi Babu allIndia invitation tournament between ONGC and TNCA President’s XI atthe AC Tech college ground in Chennai on Tuesday. At stumps on thesecond day on Monday, ONGC were 95 for two in their first innings inreply to the home team’s score of 383. A total of 289 runs in a daywith eight wickets in hand is a tough, but not impossible task. On theother hand, it is also possible for TNCA President’s XI to take eightwickets without conceding that many. All in all, it can be said thatthe match is nicely poised for a keen battle for the all importantfirst innings lead.Having resumed at 296 for five, TNCA President’s XI could not havebeen happy at getting only 87 runs on Monday morning. The overnightsixth wicket pair of Badri Attavar and D Dhandapani took theirpartnership to 151 before the latter was out for 62. Attavar wascomparatively subdued but got to 155 before he was leg before to Saif.He batted 426 minutes, faced 306 balls and hit 18 boundaries. Therewas some resistance from the tail but the home team’s total fell belowexpectations. Rahul Sanghvi finished the most successful bowler withthree for 90.ONGC were off a good start with openers Manoj Mudgal and Gagan Khodaputting on 52 runs off 12 overs before the former was out for 25.Skipper G Vadhera (3) did not last long but Khoda continued to go forhis shots. Shortly before close, he reached his half century witheight fours and a six. By close he had faced 67 balls and a lot willobviously depend on him as ONGC continue their run chase on Tuesday.Keeping him company is another run getter with the proper credentials,Virendra Shewag who has started off well, getting 13 runs off tendeliveries with two hits to the fence.

Bob Woolmer: many tricks up his sleeve© Getty Images

Recently appointed as the Pakistan coach for his technical expertise, Bob Woolmer is keen that the Pakistan fast bowlers shorten their run-ups in one-dayers. During the week-long training camp in Lahore, Woolmer concentrated on the run-ups of Shoaib Akhtar, Mohammad Sami, Shabbir Ahmed and Umar Gul and came up with the suggestion, which, he pointed out, will help conserve energy as well as improve Pakistan’s over rate. quoted Haroon Rashid, the manager, as saying, “Shoaib in particular has become very comfortable with his shortened run-up which he will use in the Asia Cup. Woolmer’s concept is that in a version of the game that is tailormade for the batsmen, this is the best way for the bowlers to conserve their energy, focus, and at same time also ensure a healthy over rate.”The Pakistan bowlers were guilty of sending down a number of no-balls in the recent one-day series against India, which they lost 3-2. They were also responsible for the penalty imposed on the team for slow over rates.Haroon added that the appointment of Woolmer and Murray Stevenson, the fitness trainer, has already had a salutary effect. “From the evidence of what I have seen in the camp and by what Woolmer and Stevenson believe that this Pakistan team will undergo a major change in attitude and performance within six months’ time.”During the camp Woolmer had a one-on-one interaction with each player, which included preparing a questionnaire for all. “After getting back these questionnaires he met with each player individually and discussed a lot of things openly with them. Team meetings were also organised to put things into place.”Haroon also explained Woolmer’s input on the technology front. “He has introduced new technological innovations in the Pakistan team’s training and preparation patterns, and the stress has been on any cricket-related exercise being carried out by the players. He also saw each player batting for about 90 minutes in the nets in different modes.”Woolmer, who had to rush to England for a short trip, will now join the team in Colombo on July 14 before the start of the Asia Cup.

Surely, there is no country for which the home and away records are sodisparate as India. The Test ratings place India at No 7 or No 8 butif the ratings were to be based purely on home results, there islittle doubt that India would be in the top three. After all, it istaken for granted that the Indians make for really formidableopposition at home, borne out by the fact that only one team ­ theSouth Africans two years ago ­ have won a Test series here in the last15 years.Given this background, the general prediction was that it would be abreeze for India in their two Test series against Zimbabwe, and thehome team has indeed started off well by winning the first Test by aninnings and plenty early on the final morning. A victory is a victoryand congratulations are in order for Sourav Ganguly and his men. Butthe proceedings were along such predictable lines that one should notlose perspective. True, the batsmen and bowlers did the job that wasexpected of them against an opposition with certain palpableweaknesses. But there were occasions when India’s showing attractedsome criticism.The first was during the second wicket century partnership betweenStuart Carlisle and Alistair Campbell on the opening day. For a time,the two batsmen made the bowling look pretty ordinary. The second waswhen the bowlers allowed the tail too many runs after scything throughthe middle order in the first innings. When will we see Indian bowlersrun through the tail a la Glenn McGrath at Johannesburg on Sunday?An adverse comment has to be directed at the batsmen too for dawdlingalong on the third day. Perhaps the final result would not have beenvery different but then there might have been a chance for the Indiansto wrap up the game with a day to spare. Such a victory, besidesgiving the extra day off, can also work wonders for team morale. Andfinally, the fielding can do with improvement but then is thereanything new in this?The tardy batting approach was due to the fact that as many as threeplayers ­ Rahul Dravid, Ganguly and VVS Laxman ­ were looking for asubstantial knock in order to play themselves back into form.In Dravid’s case, he was making a comeback of sorts after treatment toan injured shoulder. Always one who takes his time to build aninnings, the Indian vice captain had a good look at the bowling duringhis near four hour long innings but there is little doubt that his 65will stand him in good stead in the tougher campaigns ahead.Ganguly, woefully out of touch for a rather extended period now, took2-1/2 hours over 38 but there were signs that he could be running intoform sooner rather than later. Laxman took an hour to get 13 sketchyruns and was the only real batting disappointment. He is however toogood a player to be in a rut for long.Shiv Sundar Das, who is on course to overtaking Navjot Sidhu as themost prolific Indian opening batsman in the post Gavaskar period,displayed all the qualities already associated with his play ­ theintense concentration, technical brilliance both in attack anddefence, the ability to play the sheet anchor role to perfection and ahealthy appetite for runs.A century by Sachin Tendulkar is almost taken for granted and his 28thTest hundred was again notable for both scintillating strokeplay andthe manner in which he nursed the innings through on the third dayduring the crucial period when Dravid, Ganguly and Laxman were mostlystruggling. The bowlers, as I said, did what was expected of them.Zaheer Khan was particularly impressive while Anil Kumble andHarbhajan Singh were deadly as the pitch broke up.Deep Dasgupta had a moderate match and the second Test could wellrepresent his last chance to prove why Ajay Ratra, in hot pursuit ofthe stumper’s slot, should not be selected ahead of him.I have saved till the last the single most positive aspect of India’svictory ­ the batting of Sanjay Bangar ­ for I would like to emphasizeits importance. Also, I would like to think that India have unearthedan exciting, long-term prospect. The Railways opening batsman wasunder tremendous pressure to perform as he was, in a manner ofspeaking, a rather unpopular choice, having been picked ahead of thein-form Virender Sehwag, who is already a favourite with the public atlarge.He had to come off, and he did so in the most spectacular fashionpossible. With Indian cricket badly in need of an all-rounder, Bangarwas given the nod, largely on the basis of some excellent performancesaround the domestic circuit. He came good with the bat but givenadequate opportunities, it is only a matter of time before he displayshis skill with the ball too. It was a brave decision by the teammanagement to play him instead of Sehwag and hopefully it will serveas an example that such a bold, adventurous outlook is what Indiancricket is in dire need of.

After all the whining about inconsistent conditions, Stephen Fleming wonthe toss and chose to bowl on a very overcast morning. There was a huge chanceto extract revenge for the Faridabad disaster, where Nathan Bracken and BradWilliams had torn New Zealand apart.Daryl Tuffey and Kyle Mills took four importantwickets, but their consistency left a lot to be desired. Their length washighly erratic and on a pitch that begged for discipline, they could haveeasily run through the batting order. They bowled six short balls and five half-volleys, which got hit for 35 runs. Even in the other 75 balls that they bowled,there were many drifting down the leg when they should have been probing on offand middle. Compare this to the Faridabad match – where New Zealand were bundledout for 98 – when Bracken and Williams completely avoided the short ones andconceded only five runs when they erred with their length.

	New Zealand today		Australia at Faridabad
Half Volley	5	15	6	5
Good Length	75	33	83	23
Short	6	20	0	0

After 20 overs Australiawere 102 for 4 and conditions were getting better for batting. Ricky Ponting and Michael Bevanwere laying a strong foundation and one would have expected the typicalAustralian urgency for singles and twos in the middle overs. But both withdrewinto their shell, and the runscoring was drastically curtailed. Between the 21st andthe 40th overs there were only 74 runs scored, with 96 dot-balls. Thateffectively makes 16 maiden overs out of 25 and even Bevan did not wantto force the issue. But like all champion teams, the Aussies compensated towards theend, when they hammered 66 off the last 10 overs and set New Zealand acompetitive total – which turned out to be a matchwinning one.

	First 15	16 – 40	41 -50
Runs scored off bat	68	74	66
Dot balls	66	96	24

© Getty Images

As a child, Nasser Hussain was diagnosed as having a stigmatism of his left eye, a condition that causes blurring. In that proud manner that would later become his trademark, he refused to wear his glasses, and carrying on using his perfect right eye to keep his cricket on track. It was only in the mid-1990s that he bowed to advice from his ophthalmologist, and took to wearing a solitary contact lens on the weaker eye.In 2001, however, after five years of fiddling around in dusty dressing-rooms and leaving his eyewear lying in the wrong place, Hussain decided it was time to opt for a more permanent solution. So, at the end of that year’s Ashes series, he underwent corrective laser surgery in central London.Hussain took little time to demonstrate the benefits of his new 20/20 vision. He scored a typically defiant century on a wickedly seaming pitch in Christchurch, followed up with another big hundred against India at Lord’s, and in the final years of his career, he helped cement England as one of the leading sides in the world.His penultimate stroke in Test cricket summed up his attitude. England were five runs from victory and Hussain was on 98, when he cracked Chris Martin through the covers for a glorious four, before sealing the win with his very next delivery. Two shots of absolute majesty to put the seal on England’s victory, and provide the perfect epitaph to his career. No doubt he was seeing the ball like a football.