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Ellyse Perry, Australia’s dual international cricketer and footballer, has been told by Canberra United to quit cricket in order to devote herself completely to the W-League football club

Daniel Brettig29-May-2012Ellyse Perry, Australia’s dual international cricketer and footballer, has been told by Canberra United to quit cricket in order to devote herself completely to the W-League football club.Winners of the W-League last season, Canberra has since had a change of leadership. The new coach Jitka Klimkova has made it clear to Perry and club management that she does not want any Canberra players splitting their time between sports.Perry became the first woman to represent Australia in World Cups in two sports, and currently holds down a place in both the Southern Stars national cricket side and the equivalent Australian football team, the Matildas. Now 21, she has successfully split her time between national commitments since the age of 16.Perry is among the highest profile female athletes in Australia for her feat, and has shone a strong light on women’s sport in both cricket and football. However the Canberra chief executive, Heather Reid, has said that if Perry wishes to improve further she will either have to make a choice, or leave the club.”We have basically given Ellyse an ultimatum,” Reid told . “Ellyse needs to choose whether she wants to be a full-time Canberra United player and commit to training every day like everyone else does, or if she still wants to try and mix her cricket commitments with football. Then perhaps she will need to find another club.”So far, Perry has said she wants to go on playing for Canberra while also continuing to play cricket. However she is open to the possibility of leaving the club in order to find another that is more open to her carrying on in both sports.”I’ve been very fortunate to be involved with Canberra United for the last three W-League seasons but there are some changes at the club and the coach, Jitka Klimkova, has some different ideas about how the team needs to be run,” she told the .”I fully respect her philosophy, it’s certainly her prerogative to change [how things work]. But mixing my football and cricket commitments doesn’t work so well in her framework. It seems I’ll have to start looking for a new club.”It’s still a long time until the W-League season begins [in November] so I’ll weigh it up between now and then. I still want to play both [sports] and hopefully I can play for a club that allows me to do that.”Cricket Australia and Football Federation Australia are known to be supportive of Perry’s dual status and wish it to continue, as the Matildas coach Tom Sermanni and the Southern Stars chief selector Julie Savage have worked together to juggle Perry between their various fixtures. However, at least one member of the Matildas has spoken out, arguing in favour of Perry making a choice.”About time someone lifted the professional standards of women’s football. Having [a] name should [not] get you in a team,” fellow Matilda Lisa da Vanna said on Twitter. ”Players and teams deserve better. Hopefully these standards carry on to the national team and performance becomes all that matters!”

Sri Lanka continued to maintain a vice-like grip on the Galle Test on the third day, but instead of pushing for the kill after bowling out Pakistan for 100, they inexplicably decided to bat again

The Report by Siddarth Ravindran24-Jun-2012
Scorecard and ball-by-ball details
Suraj Randiv picked up 4 for 13 in the first innings•AFP

Sri Lanka continued to maintain a vice-like grip on the Galle Test on the third day, but instead of pushing for the kill after bowling out Pakistan for 100, they inexplicably decided to bat again. Even a 372-run first-innings lead, the forecast for rains over the next couple of days and a relatively fresh bowling attack that had bowled for less than two sessions were not enough to convince Mahela Jayawardene to enforce the follow-on.They eventually declared after batting more than three hours, stretching the advantage beyond 500. Then, in the hour or so they had at Pakistan’s batting in the second innings, they made big strides towards victory by removing three top-order batsmen.The other major talking point was the umpiring. In a week when the ICC will yet again discuss the Decision Review System, the Galle Test provided more evidence for making the system mandatory for all international matches. There had been a handful of wrong umpiring decisions in the first two days, and another one early on Sunday undermined Pakistan’s already slim chances of mounting a fightback, as Younis Khan was adjudged lbw even though he inside-edged the ball. Later in the day, Tillakaratne Dilshan was incorrectly declared not-out after gloving a ball to the wicketkeeper, and then given lbw when the ball was going over the stumps.The umpiring was poor, but Pakistan can’t hide behind that for their abject performance in this match. Pakistan had been given a taste of the challenge ahead in the opening over of the day as Nuwan Kulasekara first found Younis’ inside-edge and then the outside-edge. The spinners kept testing the batsmen with turn and bounce, and once Younis fell to Rangana Herath in the 10th over of the day it seemed Pakistan would be bowled out quickly.Mohammad Ayub, Pakistan’s oldest debutant since 1956, however, showed remarkable composure against the spinners, defending solidly and using the sweep regularly. He wasn’t flustered by the pace of Nuwan Pradeep, who was regularly near the 90mph, carving him for a couple of boundaries when provided the width.He was less composed when Adnan Akmal called him for a second after paddling the ball to fine leg. Akmal was going to the danger end, but Ayub started, hesitated and then turned back, and eventually both batsmen found themselves at the same end. Akmal was livid, shouting “My call, my call, I said ‘yes’,” at Ayub before departing in a huff. That exposed the Pakistan tail, and Sri Lanka’s spinners finished off the job at the stroke of lunch.After the break, to everyone’s surprise, it was the Sri Lanka openers who walked out, and the widely expected follow-on wasn’t to be. The decision would have pleased Tharanga Paranavitana, who got a no-pressure second chance to audition for a permanent place at the top of the order. He swiped a couple of sixes (after having hit only two in his other 51 Test innings) but for the second time in the game, he was made to look foolish by Saeed Ajmal, as he missed the doosra by a foot to be lbw.Junaid Khan was the other player happy with the Sri Lankan move to bat again. This is his first big game after four months out with a knee injury, and he had looked listless in the first innings, but was more of a threat second time around. He found some rhythm in the second innings, beating the bat on several occasions and picking up three wickets to boost his confidence .Of the Sri Lanka batsman, Dilshan enjoyed himself the most. He provided the early thrust as he drove, cut and swept the Pakistan bowling to bring up his second run-a-ball half-century of the match. He was dismissed by Junaid for 56, and walked off saluting the crowd. The other heavyweights in the line-up didn’t do much, but it didn’t matter as Sri Lanka were already in an exceedingly comfortable position.After the declaration came, Pakistan had to see out 16 overs before stumps but their batsmen blundered again. Mohammad Hafeez’s woeful tour continued as he was unsure how much movement Kulasekara was getting, and edged through to slip. Taufeeq Umar was lbw looking to shoulder arms in the first innings, and this time he was gone leaving a huge gap between bat and pad when looking to defend. Herath was menacing even with a new-ish ball, and had Azhar Ali pouched low at slip by Thilan Samaraweera.Pakistan were down to 25 for 3 and their only hope at stumps was for the Sri Lankan monsoon to strike and wash out major parts of the remaining two days’ play.

Pakistan’s decision to start three one-day internationals against Australia at 6pm has not appeased the Australian Cricketers’ Association (ACA)

Brydon Coverdale06-Jul-2012Pakistan’s decision to start three one-day internationals against Australia at 6pm has not appeased the Australian Cricketers’ Association (ACA), which had been concerned about the extreme day-time heat in the UAE in August-September. The late starts, confirmed by the PCB on Thursday, mean the one-day games in Sharjah and Abu Dhabi will not finish until 1.45am local time, which the ACA chief executive Paul Marsh said created a whole new set of safety issues.Marsh said the ACA was now seeking feedback from Australia’s one-day players about whether they were comfortable with the arrangements. The organisation is also assessing whether it will be safe to go ahead with the series, which has provided a scheduling headache for the PCB due to the lack of suitable venues to host a series of three ODIs and three Twenty20s at that time of year.Despite being granted permission by the ICC to change the series to six Twenty20s, which would allow the matches to be played in relatively cooler evening conditions, Pakistan decided to push ahead with the 50-over portion of the tour, in part to satisfy a broadcast deal. Marsh said he had spoken to Cricket Australia about the ACA’s concerns, which now included the playing hours as well as the heat.”We’ve spoken about it several times and they are certainly aware of our views on this issue,” Marsh told ESPNcricinfo. “We’re concerned about the heat and we’re not comfortable with the playing hours. There are issues there with the players playing sport at that time of night. How aware are players going to be?”Are there any safety issues of playing sport at that time of the night? If you’re standing there facing someone bowling at 150kph, are you going to be more tired at that time of day than you [otherwise] would be? Can they adjust their sleep patterns to play at that time of day? There are all of those things we have to look at. This tour has been put on for commercial reasons, not necessarily cricket reasons, and that’s why there’s ongoing frustration from our perspective.”We can’t stop Cricket Australia scheduling games at this time of the day. We have an MoU [memorandum of understanding] in place that has parameters around scheduling, but that is pretty much to do with number of games in total, breaks between games and those types of things. This type of issue we haven’t encountered before.”International cricket has never been held in the UAE in June, July, August or September, the hottest months in the country, and the ACA’s original concerns surrounded the possibility of the players being asked to play in 40-plus heat during the day. Marsh said that while the heat remained an issue even with the late start times, the tour would go ahead unless serious safety issues arose.”I’m not particularly comfortable with it,” he said. “I’m not sure there’s much we can do. From a heat perspective, Cricket Australia has a duty to provide safe working conditions for its players, whether that relates to security or heat or dangerous pitches or any other issues. We’re going through a process of trying to assess whether it’s safe.”In saying that, our players and cricketers around the world play in hot conditions. It’s a summer game and there are plenty of times when players play in extreme heat. I don’t want this to sound like we’re trying to get this tour stopped, because we’re not. But it’s our job to assess the conditions professionally and do our due diligence and then report back to the playing group.”A Cricket Australia spokesman said that while the series had been scheduled at unusual times, it was important to support Pakistan to ensure the series went ahead. Cricket Australia also had concerns about playing one-day internationals during the extreme heat of the UAE day-time.”We’re very conscious of the fact Pakistan have had a lot of challenges organising this series,” the CA spokesman said. “At various times they thought they had arrangements elsewhere. They wanted to play in Sri Lanka and that fell over. There was talk about Malaysia and that fell over. We sympathise and support what they want to do.”We do support not playing in the heat of the day in the UAE at this time of year. The heat gets up into the 40s during the day and they’ve scheduled the games at a time of day when the temperatures are what we’re used to and are reasonable. It is a one-off and unusual situation. It’s an unusual time of day and an unusual circumstance but we sympathise with Pakistan and we’re keen to do what we can to support them.”The one-day internationals, to be held from August 28 to September 3, will finish at 2.45am Pakistan time. The T20s, which are scheduled for September 5-10 in Abu Dhabi, will begin at 8pm local time, which is 9pm in Pakistan.

DLF Ltd, India’s largest real estate firm, has decided not to renew its title sponsorship of the IPL, ending its five-year association with the tournament

Tariq Engineer28-Aug-2012DLF Ltd, India’s largest real estate firm, has decided not to renew its title sponsorship of the IPL, ending its five-year association with the tournament. The company had the first right of refusal on a new contract, but was considered unlikely to sign up a second time given the slump in the real estate market and the decline in the IPL’s television ratings over the last two years.”Sponsoring IPL over the last five years was a strategic decision wherein we wanted to establish our brand presence across India as the leading real estate player,” Rajeev Talwar, DLF Group Executive Director told . “Our IPO came in 2007, a year before the IPL started. We were very aggressive pan-India then. We had good presence in all big cities.” The company is now concentrating on those cities where its core strengths lie.According to Talwar, DLF spent Rs 250 crore (US$ 44.96 million) on the IPL over the five years of its contract. While it has pulled out of the Twenty20 league, it still has plans to promote other sports, though Talwar ruled out owning a franchise or a team. He also said the amount of money the company would spend “will be less than Rs 50 crore ($9 million) a year that we spent in IPL.”The company’s decision not to renew their deal with the BCCI is also another indication of the value of the IPL taking a hit over the last couple of years as TV ratings have flattened. Ratings for IPL 5 were just about in line with 2011. The overall tournament rating was 3.45, compared to 3.51 a year ago, according to Tam Sports, a division of TAM Research, the leading television ratings agency in India. In contrast, the 2010 tournament had an average TVR of 5.51.In April, Talwar told the that renewing the contract “depends on how do they [the BCCI] perceive the value.” The BCCI had indicated any new sponsorship agreement would be for a higher value than the original agreement. DLF was obviously not willing to meet the board’s asking price. In a climate where the general economic situation is worsening – revenues for Multi-Screen Media, the tournament’s broadcaster, dropped this year as companies cut back on advertising – means the board could have a tough time finding a replacement sponsor at the price that they desire.DLF is the third title sponsor to pull out of a BCCI backed tournament in the last two years. Airtel pulled out as title sponsors of the Champions League T20 in 2011 while their replacement, Nokia, pulled out earlier this year. DLF is already involved in golf and tennis. It provides prize money of about Rs 1 crore ($179,000) to the winner of the annual DLF Masters and is one of the sponsors of this year’s Davis Cup, on which they will be spending Rs 2 crore, according to Talwar.

Australia’s captain Michael Clarke is expected to promote himself to the pivotal No. 3 spot in the ODI batting order for the matches against Afghanistan and Pakistan in the UAE

Daniel Brettig23-Aug-2012Australia’s captain Michael Clarke is expected to promote himself to the pivotal No. 3 spot in the ODI batting order for the matches against Afghanistan and Pakistan in the UAE, with Michael Hussey’s return to add greater ballast to the touring middle order.Clarke walked to the crease at No. 3 in both the trial matches played during Australia’s pre-season camp in Darwin, and ESPNcricinfo understands that he is now inked to remain there as the team’s best limited overs option in the position.Having returned from parental leave that ruled him out of the dire ODI tour of England, Hussey will bat at Nos. 4 or 5, leaving the Twenty20 captain George Bailey and David Hussey to round out the top six.Since Ricky Ponting lost form and was dropped from the ODI team during the triangular series last Australian summer, No. 3 has been something of a problem position for the limited overs team, as the vice-captain Shane Watson, Peter Forrest, Bailey and Matthew Wade have all been tried there with limited degrees of success.When fit, Clarke has retained the No. 4 spot he occupied beneath Ponting for some years, and in England did so despite the clear inadequacy of Forrest in particular to handle the challenges posed by the home attack. At the time, Clarke and the coach Mickey Arthur believed that Hussey’s absence from the middle order meant the captain could not afford to be any higher than No. 4, the better to have some influence on the later passages of an innings.Clarke has a sound ODI record in his limited appearances at No. 3, averaging 36.20 in 18 matches and making one century, an unbeaten 111 against India in Vizag in 2010, when he was stand-in captain. He is now set to make the move a permanent one.Australia’s acting coach for the first part of the tour, Steve Rixon, said the tourists would be playing their best team against Afghanistan and Pakistan, intent on building consistency and confidence in the ODI unit. The series follows a 12-month period that has veered from strong results in Sri Lanka and South Africa, to a halting triumph in the triangular series at home, a shared encounter in the West Indies and the abject 4-0 defeat in England.”We’ve got one tournament leading into another, which a lot of these guys will be doubling up in, from [ODIs] here into T20 over here into the big one over in Sri Lanka,” Rixon said. “So we are conscious of that, however, first things first we need to win these one dayers so we’ll be looking at our very best side. We need to look at the wicket, see exactly what we’ve got … when we see what the wicket looks like we’ll assess our options, and our options are pretty good at the moment.”You have to really be looking at your own backyard, and our own backyard is how we’re going to play best in these conditions. Regardless of the opposition, it’s how David Warner is going to combat a turning wicket, or how Michael Clarke’s going to play against the opposition in Dubai, that’s the way we set ourselves up.”The opening match against Afghanistan will be a chance for the Australians to witness how quickly the strife-torn country has developed a brave and opportunistic limited overs team. Though he expected the tourists to win, Rixon said he and the players were enlivened by the chance to encounter a rising nation.”Afghanistan has come in as a minor competitor, but they are competing at the top level, so we’ve got to go in with a lot of respect for the opposition, but we’d like to think we go in with the upper hand to be able to beat them in these conditions with the side we have,” Rixon said. “I like the idea that minor nations are getting the opportunity to come in and play against the big boys, I think that’s great for cricket and the culture of the game.”We’ve only just got some [videos] recently so I’ll have a little look at that. I’m sure they’ll go in with a ‘we’ve got nothing to lose’ attitude, which is an outstanding way to play it, but we’re also going in as a side that’s been No. 1 for a long time and we want to get back to No. 1 and make every post a winner. We have to do what we do well, and if we do that then I think we’ll be good enough.”

The preview of the Australia v South Africa Super Eights match, in Colombo

The Preview by Firdose Moonda29-Sep-2012

Match facts

September 30, 2012
Start time 1530 local (1000 GMT)Which slot will AB de Villiers occupy in the batting order?•Associated Press

Big Picture

Another classic encounter beckons for this group as the “best of enemies,” as they were once called meet. South Africa and Australia history at major tournaments needs only one number to get blood boiling: 1999.But there are others. In the 2007 World Cup, South Africa lost twice to Australia, once in the group stage and once in the semi-final. Australia have had the better of South Africa in major tournaments since Sydney 1992, when South Africa beat them by nine wickets.This time, the contest is no more insubstantial. Australia could seal their place in the semi-final with a win and ease their passage to a trophy they have yet to lay claim on. If that happens, South Africa could be looking for the exit signs of yet another major tournament. If it does not, South Africa will live to fight another day, something they have promised to do in pursuit of silverware.Even without the history, the match-ups are compelling. Both George Bailey and AB de Villiers are in the process of proving themselves as captains, South Africa have an experienced pace attack in Dale Steyn and Morne Morkel, Australia a youthful one with Pat Cummins and Mitchell Starc leading their charge. Richard Levi was talked about as having the power of David Warner, but lacks the consistency and Jacques Kallis and Brad Hogg are two of the oldest men at the event who will no doubt take bragging rights from whoever makes a more athletic save in the field.Although the tournament itself has been livened up since the group stage, South Africa and Australia have never disappointed when it comes to thrills. Theirs could be some of the bigger ones of an already big event.

Form guide

(completed matches, most recent first)
South Africa LWWLW
Australia WWWWL

Watch out for

Although Colombo is not a quick bowler’s favourite place Pat Cummins may have other reasons to be excited for this encounter. Cummins announced himself as an international cricketer in South Africa last year when he impressed with his speed and sensible strategising and had some of the South African batsmen in fear. Who can forget how he worked over Jacques Kallis and the contest could be resumed in this match.Once shaky but now solid, JP Duminy has become a go-to man for South Africa and one of their most reliable presences on the field. Duminy’s problems against spin are a thing of the past, his level head has helped steady the batting in everything from a Test match in England to the T20 against Pakistan. He also took a crucial wicket and an athletic catch and his all-round presence is an important one for South Africa if they hope to go all the way this time.

Team news

Dale Steyn, who took a blow to the ankle against Pakistan, is likely to be fit after the injury was revealed to only be a bruising. Although South Africa struggled with the bat against Pakistan, AB de Villiers did not forsee any changes to his XI but did say they would “look at a few things.” Faf du Plessis may be brought into the top three in place of the misfiring Richard Levi and will also offer an additional spin option, as would Justin Ontong. If Steyn is unable to play, Lonwabo Tsotsobe or Wayne Parnell could take his place.South Africa (probable): 1 Richard Levi, 2 Hashim Amla, 3 Jacques Kallis, 4 AB de Villiers (capt & wk), 5 JP Duminy, 6 Farhaan Behardien, 7 Albie Morkel 8 Johan Botha 9 Robin Peterson 10 Morne Morkel, 11 Dale SteynAfter outclassing India in all departments on Friday, Australia could go in with the same XI.Australia (probable): 1 David Warner, 2 Shane Watson, 3 Mike Hussey, 4 Cameron White, 5 George Bailey (capt), 6 Glenn Maxwell, 7 Matthew Wade (wk), 8 Dan Christian, 9 Brad Hogg, 10 Pat Cummins, 11 Mitchell Starc

Pitch and conditions

Colombo’s slow turner is not the kind of surface South Africa and Australia usually do battle on. Far from the pace of the WACA or the Wanderers, it will not have much in it for the fast men. Instead the likes of Robin Peterson, Glenn Maxwell, Johan Botha and Brad Hogg will be looking to make names for themselves that Allan Donald and Glenn McGrath made in previous rivalries between the two. Run scoring has proved difficult as well with totals of around 150 considered par. Another hot day is expected, with high humidity and, as always, a chance of rain.

Stats and trivia

• David Warner is one of only five batsmen to have scored more than 1,000 T20 runs. South Africa’s closest to that mark is Graeme Smith, who has 982 runs but is not in the World T20 squad.
• Albie Morkel is the only bowler to have taken a wicket without conceding a run in a T20 match. He has done it twice, both times against England.

Quotes

“If we play better cricket, we will go through to the semi-finals and there won’t be any choking there, that’s for sure.”

“We have got our fingers crossed that they will play AB de Villiers as low as they possibly can. That will work in our favour.”

Mahela Jayawardene has resigned as Sri Lanka’s Twenty20 captain, soon after his team lost the final of the World Twenty20 against West Indies in Colombo

Andrew Fernando in Colombo07-Oct-2012Mahela Jayawardene has resigned as Sri Lanka’s Twenty20 captain, soon after his team lost the final of the World Twenty20 against West Indies in Colombo. He said he will remain captain of the ODI and Test teams until at least the end of Sri Lanka’s tour of Australia in January, and remains available for Twenty20 selection.”I had a chat to the selectors before this tournament started. I was going to step down from T20 captaincy after this World Cup,” Jayawardene said. “I personally feel that for Sri Lanka going forward we need a younger leader. It’s a great opportunity for somebody to start in that T20 format. I’ve spoken to the selectors and they were quite happy with that choice.”Vice captain Angelo Mathews has been groomed for captaincy over the past 18 months, and is the obvious candidate to take the reins in the shortest format.Jayawardene, 35, had given up the captaincy in all formats in 2009, but resumed leadership when Tillkaratne Dilshan quit the post in January this year. In his second stint at the helm, Jayawardene has seen himself as an interim captain until the younger crop of Sri Lanka players are ready to step into leadership. In addition to Dilshan, Kumar Sangakkara has also led the side in recent years, before resigning after Sri Lanka’s World Cup final loss in 2011.”I took over till the Australia tour, so I’ll assess what I want to do after that,” Jayawardene said.

Pankaj and Rituraj Singh took four wickets each to dismiss Madhya Pradesh for 256 on the first day

The Report by Amol Karhadkar in Jaipur17-Nov-2012
ScorecardPankaj Singh, 27, has been on the domestic circuit for nine seasons, while Rituraj Singh, 22, had played only nine first-class matches before Rajasthan’s Group A game against Madhya Pradesh. The right-arm seamers complemented each other in Jaipur, like they did repeatedly last season, and took four wickets each to dismiss the visitors for 256 on the first day.Rajasthan could have finished the day in a stronger position had Rameez Khan and Anand Rajan not added 88 for the eighth wicket after MP were 150 for 7.Pankaj and Rituraj utilised the bowler-friendly conditions after stand-in captain Vineet Saxena chose to field, and they were ably supported by left-arm pacer Aniket Choudhary. Most of the wickets didn’t come off exceptional balls; the accuracy of the seamers forced the MP batsmen into committing mistakes. While Naman Ojha and Jalaj Saxena, MP’s aggressive batsmen, threw their wickets away by chasing wide balls, the two standout dismissals were those of Zafar Ali and the captain Devendra Bundela.Both the Singhs hardly got the new ball to swing, but once the senior partner had a word with Rituraj after Ojha’s dismissal, the younger Singh started bending his back. The result was some extra bounce, which induced an edge from Ali to the keeper.In the second session, when Bundela and Rameez Khan had begun to form a partnership, Pankaj struck. Despite bowling an immaculate line and length, Pankaj gone wicketless in his first two spells, but moments after Bundela made his 36th first-class fifty with an edge through the slip cordon, Pankaj managed to get one in sharply and trapped Bundela lbw.Rajasthan were primed to end MP’s innings, but with the blazing sun taking its toll on the three seamers, who had bowled more than 50 overs collectively in the first two sessions, Rameez and Rajan dominated the final session.The moment the second new ball became available after 80 overs, Saxena gave it to Pankaj, who had been resting while the part-timers were operating. Rituraj had taken three wickets in his first spell, and Pankaj did the same in his last, dismissing Rameez, Rajan and Ishwar Pandey to end MP’s innings.”The wicket did ease out after the early morning moisture evaporated but still, it was commendable on Rituraj and Aniket’s part to keep asking questions of batsmen,” Pankaj said. “After the kind of first session we had [MP were 90 for 5 at lunch], we would have ideally liked to dismiss them for 200, but nevertheless we have done our job.”Pankaj has been a successful bowler on the domestic circuit for the last five years and has had a bigger role to play in this game after the captain Hrishikesh Kanitkar was sidelined by a calf injury. “We discussed it in the meeting [ahead of the game] that I shall have to bear the additional responsibility of not just leading the bowling attack but also being more involved by interacting with the bowlers more than before. It is expected that it will take time to get accustomed to what a new captain is thinking and we managed it well, I think.”Rituraj was cramping after bowling an eight-over opening spell followed by a nine-over spell either side of lunch. Pankaj then told him to cut back a little. “Since he had bowled a long spell, I asked him to hold himself back a little and bowl in short spells,” Pankaj said. “And anyway we had decided to rotate the three of us. As a result, while Rituraj bowled a long first spell up front, I bowled a shorter one and then bowled a seven-over spell after lunch. The more we interact with each other, the better we perform as a team.”

Shahid Afridi, the Pakistan allrounder, could be considered for the ODI squad for the tour of India, days after he was dropped from the same, according to ODI captain Misbah-ul-Haq

Umar Farooq19-Dec-2012Shahid Afridi, the Pakistan allrounder, could be considered for the ODI squad for the tour of India, days after he was dropped from the same, according to ODI captain Misbah-ul-Haq. Afridi looked in good form during the ongoing practice matches at the conditioning training camp ahead of the India tour, scoring two back-to-back half-centuries to press his case for a recall. He was, however, named in the Twenty20 squad.”If his form remains like this and we need him, we will definitely consider him,” Misbah said at the Gaddafi Stadium in Lahore. “The form of senior players, who are experienced enough, is very important. They are seniors, whenever you give performances like this it will be good for Pakistan.”Afridi had a poor World Twenty20 in Sri Lanka, where he scored 30 runs in six matches at an average of six and claimed four wickets at 42.74. In his last 12 international innings across all formats, he averages 6.30 with the bat. He failed to make an impact in the recently concluded national Twenty20 competition and looked rusty.However, during the one-day practice matches, he scored 52 off 40 balls on Monday and clubbed another impressive 92 off 64 balls on Wednesday. He looked composed and controlled with the bat, cutting, sweeping and executing with a straight bat rather than slogging wildly. A lofty six over the bowler’s head into the dressing room was perhaps the biggest hit in the last three days. But if he is to cement his place in the side as an allrounder his bowling needs to improve. At the moment, though, his power hitting is a positive for Pakistan.Misbah said Inzamam-ul-Haq, Pakistan’s batting consultant, has given the batsmen tips on how to tackle pressure while playing against India. “Inzamam has been very useful in helping us prepare both psychologically and mentally – what type of hurdles we are going to face, how to get out of it, how as a batsman you should carry yourself,” Misbah said. “No doubt in India-Pakistan cricket you have to play aggressive cricket and we will try to apply it over there.”Misbah was wary of India despite their defeat in the Test series against England at home. “There is no point underestimating them. We will have to play hard cricket. Every bowler has a role to play. Against India you need a balanced attack,” Misbah said, stopping short of naming Saeed Ajmal as their key bowler. “You can’t depend on any one, otherwise you will be under a lot of pressure. India has depth in their batting line-up and you can’t catch them with any one bowler.”

Jos Buttler described Eoin Morgan as “world class” after the pair had combined to help England to a six-wicket win over India in the second T20 international and square the series at 1-1

ESPNcricinfo staff22-Dec-2012Jos Buttler described Eoin Morgan as “world class” after the pair had combined to help England to a six-wicket win over India in the second T20 international and square the series at 1-1. With England needing three runs for victory, Morgan, England’s stand-in captain, hit the last ball of the match for six to end unbeaten on 49 and complete his team’s highest successful run chase in the format.Buttler also played his part, hitting two crucial boundaries during the penultimate over, bowled by Parvinder Awana. He and Morgan added 32 runs from 13 balls to make sure England got over the line after an opening stand of 80 between Alex Hales and Michael Lumb had set them on their way, only for Yuvraj Singh to again menace the tourists during the middle overs.”We’re really pleased to get that victory. It was a world-class finish from a world-class finisher in Eoin Morgan,” Buttler said.”He was very confident and that rubbed off on me. It’s a great Christmas present. It was a world-class performance from everyone and everyone’s delighted to get a win.”After winning the toss, Morgan was vindicated in his decision to bowl first, despite a mixed display from England’s attack. Only Tim Bresnan and James Tredwell showed the requisite control on a fast surface and a sixth-wicket partnership of 60 from 27 balls between MS Dhoni and Suresh Raina threatened to take the game out of England’s reach.”It was a hell of a game of cricket,” Morgan said. “It was a great pitch to be prepared for a Twenty20 game and both sides were in the game throughout the whole 40 overs, which was great to see.””The stats suggest, particularly at this stadium, that chasing predominantly wins, so it was part and parcel of what we looked at and we backed ourselves to chase down or even set a good score.”While India dropped two catches and leaked runs with a poor display in the field, England worked hard to back up their bowlers and Morgan praised the fielding by his young side. “It was outstanding,” he said. “It’s an area that we’ve looked at where we can be ahead of the game and save 10 or 15 runs each time, and today we were amazing.”Dhoni, who joint top-scored for India with 38, and Yuvraj both suggested that the dew had been a factor for the side bowling second. But while Dhoni was pleased with the way his side fought throughout the match, he admitted India had made their task harder by allowing England’s openers to quickly get on top of the run chase.”What was vital was the start. I don’t think we started really well, we were a fraction short,” Dhoni said. “As in the last game, we came back nicely, the bowlers started doing well again, but it was difficult. We gave up too many runs in the first six overs.”