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Mitchell Johnson wants umpires to call no-balls immediately after Australia were the victims for the second consecutive Test when a front-foot decision was referred by an official

Peter English at the SCG04-Jan-2011Mitchell Johnson wants umpires to call no-balls immediately after Australia were the victims for the second consecutive Test when a front-foot decision was referred by an official. Michael Beer was celebrating Alastair Cook as his first Test wicket when Billy Bowden asked for – and then received – confirmation that the debutant spinner had over-stepped.”If the umpires know it’s a no-ball I think they should call it, instead of waiting to call it,” Johnson said. Bowden had a hunch Beer had gone over but he waited for the catch to be taken at mid-on before requesting a replay.”Everyone’s going to have different opinions on it,” Johnson said. “I suppose it’s not a bad thing, but it can be frustrating. I suppose you’ve just got to get your foot behind the line.”Johnson was the one who transgressed last week when Matt Prior edged on 5 at the MCG before making the hosts pay by finishing with 85. Cook was 46 when he miscued today and was unbeaten on 61 at stumps.It was a tough entry to the elite level for Beer, who bowled steadily during his nine overs, and his team-mates made an effort to cheer him up. What it shows is that Beer has learned one of the attack’s bad habits very quickly. The Australians have always struggled with no-balls and it is common practice for them to go over the line by a long way at training.”We always have this argument between batters and bowlers,” Johnson said. “We always try to find a way to get behind the line. We all try and do it. Whether you feel enclosed with the nets being there, I don’t know what it is. I still bowl half a foot over in the nets but I don’t know how we’re going to fix that.”James Anderson said the no-ball referrals represented “good cricket” because the right decision was made. “I think they should do it more often, I don’t think they use it enough,” he said. “A no-ball is a no-ball. You should get the correct decision when he’s bowled one.”England’s approach to over-stepping with David Saker, the bowling coach, is much more meticulous than Australia’s sloppy method under Troy Cooley. “We think it’s a very important part of our job to stay behind the line – even more so in one-day cricket,” Anderson said.”We try and practise it in the nets, and I hope we can replicate that out there.”The practice certainly seems to be working, as England have bowled just seven no-balls in the series, while Australia’s tally stands at 19.

Colin Ingram knows he has to adapt to changes in his position in the batting line-up in the 2011 World Cup

Firdose Moonda01-Feb-2011In October last year, Colin Ingram became the first South Africa batsman to score a century on ODI debut. Just three months later, on the eve of the World Cup squad selection, critics were calling for his head, saying the 25-year-old had not done enough to earn his place on the plane to the subcontinent.”I wouldn’t say I was nervous [about the squad announcement] but I knew that someone would have to be left out,” Ingram told ESPNcricinfo. With the ambiguity surrounding his role in the team, there was every chance that someone could have been Ingram.Ingram has spent his brief international career yo-yoing up and down the batting order, even though he is a regular No.3 at his franchise, the Warriors. At the national level, that place belongs to one Jacques Kallis. Even though Ingram has been tagged as Kallis’ successor in the future, it’s the present that’s left him in limbo in the batting line-up.He has played six of his 11 matches batting at No.3, either when Kallis was injured or opening the batting, and scored 268 runs at an average of 44.66, including his two ODI centuries. In five matches batting at No.6, Ingram has managed just 60 runs with a highest score of 27. From that small sample, it’s obvious that he is more suited to the No.3 role but, as Graeme Smith made clear in October, for as long as Kallis is part of the national set up, Ingram will have to be content with batting lower down the order, which is where he will find himself during the World Cup.”I pride myself on being adaptable and flexible as a cricketer so I look forward to batting at No.6,” Ingram said. It’s that adjustment process that worried commentators, including former Test batsman HD Ackerman, who said that asking Ingram to play a role at No.6 that is totally different to the function he fulfills at No.3, would be unfair.Ingram doesn’t see it that way and believes the move will be easier to fit into than most think. “When you are batting lower down the order, the situation dictates what you have to do, rather than when you are at number three and you can just decide for yourself,” he said. “You may have to go and smash a few runs to win a match or you may have to play a supporting role to someone who is doing the smashing or you may have to play a consolidator role.”On the face it, all of the three are jobs Ingram could do, but in reality he has only successfully done it once. Ingram scored an unbeaten for South Africa A against Sri Lanka A in a Tri-Series final in October last year, batting at No.5. South Africa A were chasing 255 to win and Ingram was there when they crossed the line.
Ingram was on both South Africa A’s tours last year. The first was to Bangladesh in May and Ingram ended the tri-series as the highest South African run-scorer with 220 from five matches at an average of 44.00.During the Sri Lankan series, he scored 160 runs in five matches at a slightly lower average of 42.50. “CSA did really well to plan those tours because we got a lot of preparation in sub-continental conditions and some of the guys that were part of those A tours are now part of the national team,” Ingram said. Morne van Wyk was one of the other players who participated on the A tours and is now part of the World Cup squad.Despite South Africa taking a relatively inexperienced squad to the World Cup, Ingram feels they have a good chance of going far, because of the bond they share. “There’s a good feeling around the squad at the moment and I feel fortunate to be in the team given the environment we are in now. Not being as committed to each other as we are now was perhaps the one shortfalls of our game in the past and it’s something we identified and have changed. The guys are all so close.”It’s because of the friendships they are building that Ingram said he would not have been disheartened if he was the one left out, instead of David Miller. Fortunately for Ingram, he wasn’t.

Ratnakar Shetty, the World Cup’s tournament director, has said that only 4,000 tickets for the World Cup final will be available to the general public due to commitments to give tickets to the ICC and the MCA’s member clubs

Tariq Engineer20-Feb-2011Ratnakar Shetty, the World Cup’s tournament director, has said that the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai will have all the necessary permissions in place before it hosts the group-stage game between New Zealand and Canada on March 13. The stadium recently failed a fire inspection, raising concerns that it may not be ready in time for the match. It is also scheduled to host the final on April 2.”There will be no compromise of any requirements for any government body or agency,” Shetty said at the unveiling of the renovated Wankhede stadium. “Every permission that is required will be obtained.”He explained that the fire department was concerned primarily with the newly built areas, specifically the basement under the north stand that will serve as the broadcaster’s control room, and that the Mumbai Cricket Association was already in the process of fixing the problems. However, he refused to be drawn into the exact nature of the permissions required or whether any deadlines had been set to obtain them. ESPNcricinfo understands that the fire department is not scheduled to make a second inspection of the venue.The Wankhede Stadium’s newest avatar was inaugurated by Sharad Pawar, the president of the MCA, and the current president of the ICC•AFP

On the subject of tickets, Shetty said that the association is limited to offering only 4000 tickets for the final to the general public because it is contractually obligated to offer tickets to the ICC (8500), as well as its member clubs (roughly 20,000). The limited number of tickets was further exacerbated by the renovation, which reduced the capacity of the stadium from 38,000 to 33,000. One thousand tickets for the final will be available online at Kyazoonga from February 21 and the remaining 3000 tickets would be sold through the association.When asked whether it was unfair that only 4000 tickets would be sold for a game as important as the World Cup final, Shetty said the members of the clubs are also part of the “public” and so he disagrees with that assertion, but at the same time he also pointed out that the association’s hands are tied because it has to honour its contracts.While the pitch is ready for play, Shetty was noncommittal on the subject of a practice match, saying only that there are plenty of “cricket experts on the committee” who are monitoring the pitch and that the curator has always managed to produce a good wicket. They are also monitoring the shadow created by the new roof that creeps across the pitch as the sun sets, but Shetty said it was “not an immediate problem”.

Daniel Vettori, the New Zealand captain, is not impressed with the use of the same pitch for Tuesday’s semi-final as the one that was used for the quarter-final against England on Saturday

ESPNcricinfo staff28-Mar-2011Daniel Vettori, the New Zealand captain, is not impressed with the use of the same pitch for Tuesday’s semi-final as the one that was used for the quarter-final against England on Saturday. “They’ve told us we’re playing on the same one as England, which is very surprising for us,” Vettori said on the eve of the first semi-final against Sri Lanka. “Playing a World Cup semi-final on a used wicket; we would have thought it would be mandatory to prepare a fresh wicket, but obviously not.” Sri Lanka won their quarter-final easily, strangulating England’s scoring through clever use of slow bowlers and Lasith Malinga at the death, and went on to win comfortably by 10 wickets.Vettori is spot on with his observation that it is not mandatory to play a semi-final on a fresh pitch. However, the pitch to be used for the semi-final is relatively fresh; it was used for the first time in the tournament during the quarter-final. The call on which pitch is to be used is the groundsman’s, and Anuruddha Polonowita, Sri Lanka’s chief groundsman, said that he has chosen the most-fair strip.An ICC source said the choice of the exact pitch remains with the venue, as long as it complies with the ICC’s guidelines for fair pitches. The choice, the source said, was between the pitch used for the Australia-Pakistan game and the one used for the quarter-final. The first one had more inconsistent bounce, hence this pitch was chosen.

Australia will push for the right to enforce umpire decision reviews in its home matches, despite continued Indian opposition.

Daniel Brettig13-May-2011Australia will push for the right to enforce umpire decision reviews in its home matches at the ICC’s executive board meeting in June, despite continued Indian opposition to the system.India’s scheduled visit to Australia during the 2011-12 summer, their first tour down under since the contentious 2008 Sydney Test match that led indirectly to the adoption of the DRS, adds plenty of currency to an issue that remains divisive even after the system’s use during the World Cup.The ICC cricket committee recommended in its meeting at Lord’s that home boards be granted the right to choose whether to employ the system or not, a state of affairs that would prevent the repeat of a situation when India and hosts Sri Lanka disagreed over its use last year.James Sutherland, the Cricket Australia chief executive, showed no public sign of deferring to India’s judgment following his board’s two-day meeting in Melbourne. “My personal view is strongly in support of DRS, as we know the current understanding is basically the DRS can be used by bilateral agreement of the two competing teams,” said Sutherland.”At this stage in spite of the recommendation of the cricket committee it does need to go through other bodies within the ICC in order for that to become an absolute requirement. I’m conscious of that, but certainly from a CA perspective we would be very keen for DRS to be in place for all international cricket.”An ICC plan to have BCCI officials observe the use of the DRS in Australia, during the Ashes last summer, fell through due to scheduling conflicts, but the World Cup provided a closer look for subcontinental administrators and players. There was consternation about the lbw reprieve won on a technicality by Ian Bell during India’s group match against England, but it must also be observed that Sachin Tendulkar was saved from an early dismissal in the semi-final against Pakistan by a similarly narrow DRS margin.”Obviously we all got a fair insight into that during the World Cup where the DRS system was in place for the World Cup, and that was in India,” said Sutherland.Tendulkar and the Indian captain MS Dhoni are thought to be the bulwark of Indian opposition to the system, a position that has been unchanged since Sri Lanka had much the better of the DRS during a series in Sri Lanka in late 2008.

Zimbabwe’s plans for a third Test ground in the country are set to come to fruition after the Victoria Falls local council granted planning approval for a stadium near the iconic site

ESPNcricinfo staff09-Jun-2011Zimbabwe’s plans for a third Test ground in the country to complement those in Harare and Bulawayo are set to come to fruition after the Victoria Falls local council granted planning approval for a stadium near the iconic site. Zimbabwe Cricket chief executive Ozias Bvute and chairman of selectors Alistair Campbell confirmed the council approval, and said that construction work will begin early next year.”This is one of the great natural wonders of the world and playing international and first-class cricket there will cause a lot of excitement among visiting players and fans,” said Bvute. “Tourism is on the up in this country and sporting tourism especially so.”We had eight or nine thousand for a recent Twenty20 tournament in Harare and that has given us additional confidence to go ahead, apart from other factors,” added Campbell. “People now go to Dubai for cricket. We will soon be an alternative to that. There is a lot of vision here at the moment.”As well as hosting Tests and ODIs, the ground will also provide a second home, after Queens Sports Club in Bulawayo, for domestic side Matabeleland Tuskers. In addition, ZC are hoping that other teams – particularly English representative and county sides – will be attracted to use the facilities for pre-season tours.Widely considered to be one of the seven natural wonders of the world, Victoria Falls sits on the Zambezi river on the border between Zambia and Zimbabwe, and is also a World Heritage site. At the height of Zimbabwe’s tourism industry it attracted several hundred thousand visitors a year. Those numbers dwindled as the country’s political situation deteriorated, with most travellers opting to reach the Falls through Zambia, but amid relative stability in recent years the number of tourists has started to pick up again.Development on both the Zimbabwean and Zambian sides has not been without its problems in the past, and in 2007 plans to build 500 chalets in a national park on the Zambian side, and the collapse of infrastructure in Zimbabwe, prompted Unesco to warn that the area could lose its World Heritage status. That never happened, however, and the development of the cricket ground will utilise the latest ecologically-friendly features.Approximations of the total capacity of the ground range between 4,000 and 12,000 and no cost estimates have been made available so far, but architects are said to be drawing up plans for a clubhouse. Once completed, it will be accessible by road, rail and air in Zimbabwe, while several airlines offer flights from Johannesburg, the journey taking under two hours.

Andrew Strauss will play for Somerset against the Indians next month in preparation for England’s Test series

ESPNcricinfo staff20-Jun-2011Andrew Strauss will play for Somerset against the Indian tourists next month in preparation for England’s Test series after the ECB came to an agreement to ensure the captain has adequate opportunity to find form.With Strauss not part of England’s one-day plans any more he will return to county duty with Middlesex. However, they have just one Championship match, against Gloucestershire at Uxbridge, in the next three weeks and Strauss will play that along with one CB40 match. It was felt that only playing Middlesex’s fixtures would have left him short of time in the middle before a four-Test series.Strauss has been short of form during the Sri Lanka series with 26 runs in four innings and fell three times to Chanaka Welegedara, the left-arm seamer, to begin debates about a potential weakness, especially as India will have Zaheer Khan in their attack. He stressed the added value of time in the middle over simple net practice in his search for form.”Any time I get the opportunity to play against the touring side prior to the series starting I take because it gives me an opportunity to see their bowlers and more than anything it’s about getting some cricket,” said Strauss. “I’ll be doing a lot of work in the nets over the next few weeks but you can’t replicate what happens in a match in the nets. This gives me another opportunity to hopefully have another innings before the npower Test series starts.””We were very sensitive to Somerset’s feelings on this and if at any stage we felt they weren’t comfortable with the idea then it would have been a non-starter,” he added. “But they were very keen and we’re very grateful for them to give me the opportunity to play some cricket before the first npowerTest match and hopefully I can spend a bit of time with their young cricketers at the same time.”Andy Flower, the England team director, was delighted with the arrangement with Somerset. “It’s a good indication of how the counties can work together,” he told . “We knew it was a challenge about how much cricket he will get before the Test series. We were looking for opportunities for him to play. We approached Somerset and they’ve been wholly positive.””We are very grateful to Somerset’s Director of Cricket Brian Rose and Middlesex’s Managing Director of Cricket, Angus Fraser, for their co-operation in this matter and believe it will provide Andrew with valuable preparation in the longer form of the game ahead of the forthcoming npower Test series against India,” added ECB Managing Director Hugh Morris.The match against the Indians, which is their only warm-up game before the first Test at Lord’s, takes place from July 15-17 at Taunton and could mean a reuniting of Strauss with his former England opening partner Marcus Trescothick.

A century from skipper Alviro Petersen helped Glamorgan dominate the first day of their County Championship Division Two match against Essex at Cardiff

02-Aug-2011
Scorecard
Alvrio Petersen made the most of being asked to bat first•PA Photos

A century from skipper Alviro Petersen helped Glamorgan dominate the first day of their County Championship Division Two match against Essex at Cardiff.Petersen scored 133 out of Glamorgan’s 313 for 3 after his opposite number James Foster won the toss and decided to put Glamorgan in to bat.The decision was understandable in the overcast and humid morning conditions but Glamorgan could not have expected the opening session to run as smoothly as it did, with Petersen and Gareth Rees reaching lunch with ease at 101 for no loss.Despite winning their last three games and bowling Leicestershire out for 34 last Friday, when David Masters recorded figures of eight for 10 at Garon Park in Southend-on-Sea, Essex failed to produce one chance before lunch.Masters and Maurice Chambers did beat the bat a couple of times in their second spells but it was very much Glamorgan’s morning. The opening pair easily surpassed their previous best opening partnership of 68 against Gloucestershire in May.And their dominance continued with both batsmen completing their half-centuries in the over after lunch. Rees’ came up from 94 balls with six fours and Petersen reached his from 101 balls with seven boundaries.Glamorgan looked certain break their first-wicket record against Essex – Steve James and Hugh Morris’ 199 at Chelmsford in 1996 – but Rees fell victim to the leg-spinner Tom Craddock. Rees was caught behind attempting a scoop shot to leave the home side 184 for one in the 57th over.That was just after Petersen reached his second century for Glamorgan – his first in Wales – from 182 balls with 14 fours. The home side continued to dominate and reached tea at 217 for one from 64 overs. To Essex’s credit, the bowlers did not let Glamorgan score at a fast rate with Masters and Craddock keeping the runs down.But it was Chambers who got the second breakthrough after tea when Petersen feathered one behind. He went for 133 from 228 balls to leave Glamorgan 251 for two in the 76th over.Michael Powell and Will Bragg looked as if they had negotiated the threat of the second new ball but only three overs from the close, Bragg went leg before attempting to turn a ball from Masters into the legside. That forced Glamorgan into employing a nightwatchman – Will Owen, who survived until the close.

Shoaib Malik’s and Danish Kaneria’s long drawn-out battle to gain clearance from the PCB continued on Monday when they appeared before its integrity committee again

ESPNcricinfo staff15-Aug-2011Shoaib Malik’s and Danish Kaneria’s long drawn-out battle to gain clearance from the PCB continued on Monday when they appeared before its integrity committee again. A spokesman for the PCB said the decision on whether the two players – who last played for Pakistan during the England tour last year – can play for the national team is still pending.”Both Malik and Kaneria appeared before the committee but the committee has taken no decision,” Nadeem Sawrar, a PCB spokesman, told .Malik, Kaneria and Kamran Akmal appeared before the integrity committee in January before the selection of Pakistan’s World Cup squad, and while Kamran was included Kaneria and Malik were not cleared for selection.Kaneria was questioned by police in England last year, in relation to an investigation believed to centre around a Pro40 Essex win against Durham and spot-betting on wides and no-balls during the match, but was not charged. He has since produced a letter from his former county Essex clearing him of wrongdoing, but the PCB was not satisfied with it, and Kaneria has taken the PCB to court over his non-clearance.Malik, meanwhile, received a boost when he was named as a reserve player in Pakistan’s squad for their upcoming tour of Zimbabwe, but Mohsin Khan, the chief selector, said it was subject to his clearance from the board. Malik has reportedly not been able to satisfy the integrity committee about the legitimacy of a sum of money in his bank account. He, however, said he has given the committee all the information needed.”I have given to the committee whatever I was asked to submit and it’s up to them to clear me,” Malik said. “If I am included in the team, then I am sure I will give a good performance as I believe I have a lot to offer to Pakistan cricket.”

The IPL franchises have emerged as the clear winners when it comes to players deciding between playing for them or their home sides in the upcoming Champions League Twenty20

ESPNcricinfo staff22-Aug-2011The IPL franchises have emerged as clear winners when it comes to players deciding between playing for them or their home sides in the upcoming Champions League Twenty20. Eight players were originally nominated for two squads and were given 48 hours to decide which team they would play for before the final squads were announced today.Brad Haddin, Doug Bollinger and Brett Lee have all chosen to play for their respective IPL franchise over New South Wales; Warriors have lost Jacques Kallis and Davy Jacobs to IPL teams; Trinidad & Tobago will be without the services of Dwayne Bravo, who will play for Chennai Super Kings, and Kieron Pollard, who is in the Mumbai Indians squad; and Aiden Blizzard has chosen Mumbai over the South Australia Redbacks.Eleven of the thirteen teams have now announced their squads for the tournament, with the English counties who reach the Friends life t20 final to confirm their squads on August 27. The qualifying round for the Champions League begins on September 19, with the main tournament scheduled for September 23-October 9.All the franchises have announced full-strength squads, which means there will be no rest for the India players, who only finish their tour of England on September 16.Gautam Gambhir, who suffered a concussion during the ongoing Oval Test, is in the Kolkata Knight Riders’ squad while MS Dhoni will lead Chennai Super Kings and Sachin Tendulkar will lead Mumbai Indians. Munaf Patel and Suresh Raina are the other players in the current India Test squad who will be involved in the Champions League. Mumbai have also included Harbhajan Singh, who pulled out of the England tour after the second Test with an abdominal muscle strain.One big-name player missing from the squads was Andrew Symonds who was not named in Mumbai’s XV. New South Wales chose to leave out the upcoming Pakistan-born batsman Usman Khawaja, who was granted a visa to India after initially being denied it.Cape Cobras: JP Duminy, Herschelle Gibbs, Justin Kemp, Rory Kleinveldt, Charl Langeveldt, Richard Levi, Johann Louw, Justin Ontong, Robin Peterson, Vernon Philander,
Andrew Puttick, Michael Rippon, Owais Shah, Dale Steyn, Dane VilasWarriors: Johan Botha, Nicky Boje, Mark Boucher, Andrew Birch, Colin Ingram, Justin Kreusch, Lyall Meyer, Makhaya Ntini, Wayne Parnell, Ashwell Prince, Jon-Jon Smuts, Kelly Smuts, Rusty Theron, Craig Thyssen, Lonwabo TsotsobeMumbai Indians: Aiden Blizzard, Yuzvendra Chahal, James Franklin, Davy Jacobs, Dhawal Kulkarni, Suryakumar Yadav, Lasith Malinga, Ali Murtaza, Munaf Patel, Kieron Pollard, Ambati Rayudu, Rohit Sharma, Harbhajan Singh, T Suman, Sachin TendulkarRoyal Challengers Bangalore: Mayank Agarwal, S Aravind, Raju Bhatkal, AB de Villiers, Tillakaratne Dilshan, Chris Gayle, Arun Karthik, Virat Kohli, Mohammad Kaif, Abhimanyu Mithun, J Syed Mohammed, Dirk Nannes, Asad Pathan, Saurabh Tiwary
Daniel VettoriChennai Super Kings: R Ashwin, S Badrinath, Doug Bollinger, Dwayne Bravo, MS Dhoni, Michael Hussey, Shadab Jakati, Albie Morkel, Suresh Raina, Suraj Randiv, Wriddhiman Saha, S Anirudha, Tim Southee, Scott Styris, M VijayKolkata Knight Riders: Iqbal Abdulla, Shakib Al Hasan, L Balaji, Rajat Bhatia, Manvinder Bisla, Gautam Gambhir, Brad Haddin, Jacques Kallis, Brett Lee, Eoin Morgan, Yusuf Pathan, Shami Ahmed, Ryan ten Doeschate, Manoj Tiwary, Jaidev UnadkatNew South Wales Blues: Stuart Clark, Patrick Cummins, Nathan Hauritz, Josh Hazelwood, Moises Henriques, Phillip Hughes, Simon Katich, Nic Maddinson, Steve O’Keefe, Ben Rohrer, Daniel Smith, Steven Smith, Mitchell Starc, David Warner, Shane WatsonSouth Australia Redbacks: Cameron Borgas, Daniel Christian, Tom Cooper, Callum Ferguson, Daniel Harris, Michael Klinger, Nathan Lyon, Tim Ludeman, Aaron O’Brien, Gary Putland, Adil Rashid, Kane Richardson, Chadd Sayers, James Smith, Shaun TaitAuckland: Andre Adams, Jimmy Adams, Michael Bates, Colin de Grandhomme, Martin Guptill, Ronnie Hira, Gareth Hopkins, Anaru Kitchen, Bruce Martin, Chris Martin, Kyle Mills, Colin Munro, Daryl Tuffey, Rob Quiney, Lou Vincent Trinidad & Tobago: Samuel Badree, Adrian Barath, Darren Bravo, Kevon Cooper, Rayad Emrit, Daren Ganga, Sherwin Ganga, Shannon Gabriel, Jason Mohammed, Dave Mohammed, Sunil Narine, William Perkins, Denesh Ramdin, Ravi Rampaul, Lendl SimmonsRuhuna: Mahela Udawatte, Dinesh Chandimal, Sanath Jayasuriya, Janaka Gunaratne, Milinda Siriwardana, TM Sampath, Yashodha Lanka, Shihan Kamileen, Amal Athulathmudali, Arosh Janoda, Shalika Karunanayake, Omesh Wijesiriwardene, Alankara Asanka Silva, Chinthaka Perera, Bhanuka Rajapaksa