All posts by csb10.top

Despite being made to work hard for their wickets Notts duly completed their first championship win at Trent Bridge this year when they dismissed Glamorgan for 246 in their second innings and knocked off the required 63 to win by seven wickets.The victory earns them 19 points and revives their promotion prospects. Another win at Bristol next week against Gloucs would surely be enough to lift the side into the First Division next season.Having enforced the follow-on and taken 3 second innings wickets on Day 2 Notts have may expected to roll over the Welsh county when play began but stubborn resistance from Adrian Dale, Ian Thomas, Steve James and Keith Newell ensured that at lunch Glamorgan had every hope of making Notts bat again, as they were just 60 behind.The first wicket to fall in the afternoon session was that of Adrian Dale who had batted watchfully throughout the morning to reach 41. Feeding on a shortish delivery wide of his off stump Dale slashed to gully where Chris Hewison took his second stunning catch of the day. Diving full length to his right he showed great athleticism to pull off the dismissal and pick up his 5th catch in his debut match.England Under 19 wicketkeeper Mark Wallace joined Keith Newell and the pair put on a rapid 46 for the 7th wicket, with both batsmen eager to push for quick singles.Paul Franks returned to the attack and with Glamorgan just 7 away from making Notts go in again he broke the partnership. Newell, who’d made 35, couldn’t get forward to a well pitched-up delivery and umpire Alan Whitehead gave the lbw verdict in favour of the bowler, who’d claimed his 5th victim.Alex Wharf had left the Trent Bridge staff a year ago and was heard to be singing wryly “It’s good to be back” (a la Gary Glitter!) the previous evening, with his side in desperate trouble. He did nothing to help their cause on the 3rd day, trapped for 0 in his crease by AJ Harris to complete a pair. The batsman clearly thought that the first impact had been ball on bat but umpire Nigel Cowley took an alternative point of view.Darren Thomas again emerged with a runner and slashed Franks square to take his side past 184 and ensure that Notts would have to bat a second time. With a lead of 11 Thomas tried to hook Franks and skied the ball for an easy catch to Darren Bicknell on the offside.Last man Steve Watkin more than justified his presence at the wicket – not only did he remain long enough for Wallace to complete his half century but he helped himself to 28 as the last wicket put on 51 before Watkin pulled Reiffel to Guy Welton at square-leg.Reiffel, in what is almost certainly his last Championship game at Trent Bridge, had taken the final wicket but the bowling honours had definitely gone to Paul Franks who finished with 6-59.Needing 63 for victory Notts were soon in trouble as Steve Watkin demonstrated what a quality bowler he is. In his first fiver overs he nipped out both openers. Welton was caught behind for just 4 for the second time in the match and Bicknell was also taken by `keeper Wallace for 3.With thoughts of an embarrassing collapse increasing Notts lost another wicket to the Watkin/Wallace combination when Chris Hewison was taken via an inside edge. Watkin’s figures read 3-12 as the home side struggled on 28-3.A quick flurry of runs from the bat of Usman Afzaal would have calmed the home dressing room as he and skipper Jason Gallian, who had enjoyed a fine match throughout, saw Notts home without further loss.

Australia duly completed their expected CricInfo Women’s World Cup victory over Ireland at Hagley Oval today, the 10-wicket margin as comprehensive on the field as it was on paper.Ireland followed the pattern of their first match against New Zealand. They won the toss, chose bravely to bat first on a pitch with a definite tinge of green, produced one reasonable partnership but, as in their first match, failed to get out of the nervous nineties. Catherine O’Neill (28) and Caitriona Beggs (18) provided stubborn resistance in the middle of the innings but they were never able to get on top of the Australians.Sixteen runs from wides did give the Australian coach, John Harmer, a matter to address at the team review of the match. But he was happy with their fielding performance in trying conditions with a wintery southerly battering the ground for much of the match.The veteran Zoe Goss was the standout bowler, her four for 10 off 9.3 overs deservedly winning her the CricInfo Player of the Match award.Ireland were treated to the disconcerting experience of the hero of the Australian win over New Zealand, Theresa McGregor, completing her first five overs of pace before resuming later in the innings to put her leg-spin skills into practice. Both variations were effective, the women’s version of the Australian medium pacer/off spinner, Colin Miller, going for just 14 off her mixed 10 with her wicket coming off her longer run-up. That was courtesy of an exceptional Karen Rolton reflex catch at silly mid off to remove a driving Karen Young after the Ireland opening pair of Young and Anne Linehan had looked comfortable enough for the first seven overs.The target of 91 was never going to challenge the Australians. But Harmer was very pleased with the way his openers went about the task. Belinda Clark and Lisa Keightley “did the job they had to do,” passing the mark in the 21st over and just failing to manufacture a half century for Keightley, who was left 49 not out.Hames said Clark was keen to get runs and would be happy with her unbeaten 40 after going cheaply in their first two matches.Reflecting a willingness of all teams to battle to the end, coaches in this competition have not been slow in praising the losers, no matter how well beaten. Harmer was no exception. Noting that Ireland had worked hard, he said: “They’ll have a couple of good days before the tournament is out.”That is a warning for some of the second tier teams. The Ireland coach, John Wills, said that, with the learning experience of playing New Zealand and Australia behind them, Ireland were now entering what was for them the serious part of the tournament.He said they got what they expected from the Australians. “There are no second chances against the top teams.” He felt his side bowled and fielded well despite defending such a small target but that the batting had collectively been disappointing. However, he noted with satisfaction that O’Neill’s effort had been recognised with the awarding of a point in the overall performance competition.Ireland now go on to put what they have learned in their opening matches to the test against Sri Lanka on Tuesday while Australia have a couple of days off before what promises to be a most interesting contest against India on Wednesday.

Junior National Selectors, headed by former Sri Lankan left arm spinner,Roger Wijesuriya have selected a pool of 24 players ahead of the forthcomingunder 19 tour of Pakistan in November. The players have been chosen afterten trial matches and a final squad will be picked from these 24. Theplayers will be training under Owen Mottau.The squad:Charith Sylvester, D. Prasad (St. De Mazenod College, Kandana), U. Tharanga(Dharmasoka College, Ambalangoda), S. Perera, L. Fernando (St. Sebastian’sCollege, Moratuwa), M. Bandara (Mahanama College, Colombo), OmeshWijesiriwardene (Richmond College, Galle), D. Niroshan (Sri DevanandaCollege, Ambalangoda), Y. Dilruk (St. John’s College, Panadura), U. Warna,K. Gunawardene (D.S Senanayake College, Colombo), J. Mendis (St. ThomasCollege, Mt. Lavania), S. Wijeratne (Prince of Wales College, Moratuwa), M.Dunusinghe, G. Chandrakumar (Nalanda College, Colombo), D. Indika (ThurstanCollege, Colombo), E. Abeysinghe (Ananda College, Colombo), I. Mutalip,(Maris Stella College, Negombo), A. Wettasinghe (Kalutara MMV, Kalutara, F.Mahroof, (Wesley College, Colombo), N. Wickramaratne, (Dharmaraja College,Kandy), D. Gunetileke (Maliyadewa College, Kurunegala), C. Kumarsaroo (St.Thomas College, Matara), P. Ranawaka (St. Anthony’s College, Kandy)

ScorecardFile photo: Ankit Bawne and Maharashtra will hope for as little rain as possible on the final day in Gahunje•ESPNcricinfo Ltd

Opener Swapnil Gugale’s 91 on yet another rain-curtailed day has put Maharashtra on course to take a first-innings lead and start their season with three points against Haryana. Play was stopped in Gahunje just before tea on the penultimate day with hosts Maharashtra 256 for 3, only 79 runs behind Haryana’s first innings total of 335.Claiming the lead might not be quite so straightforward with heavier rain predicted on the final day. The unbeaten batsmen Kedar Jadhav and Ankit Bawne, were quite aggressive during their 76-run partnership, and would be hoping for at least an hour’s play tomorrow to push Maharashtra ahead.The day, however, clearly belonged to Gugale. He had debuted in 2010-11, got a duck and did not play the rest of the season. After a few years in the wilderness, he broke through in 2014-15 with 596 runs at 54.18, including a century in the semi-final against Tamil Nadu. He had come in midway through the season and ended up with the highest average.Gugale began cautiously today, taking his time to gauge the pace and adjusting to the lesser bounce on the pitch. He saw off the pace of Ashish Hooda, the standout bowler for Haryana, before getting into gear with some lovely drives.Jayant Yadav, on a high after impressing for India A against the touring Bangladeshis last week, was introduced after drinks but Gugale didn’t let him settle. He laced a four through cover and followed it up with a paddle sweep to the fine leg boundary. Next over, he charged down the wicket and struck medium-pacer Sachin Rana over his head and into the sight screen. Gugale completed the assault by hoicking Yadav into the stands beyond long-on just before lunch.Gugale had scored 174 against Delhi last season and memories of that knock may have come up for Virender Sehwag, now leading Haryana. But, Hooda was eventually rewarded for his discipline as Gugale edged one to keeper Nitin Saini just after entering into the nineties.Gugale was glad to have started the season with a good knock which wiil give him “enough confidence to avoid second-season blues.” but was disappointed to have missed out on a three-figure mark.”A hundred is, after all, a hundred,” he said after the day’s play was called off ten minutes before scheduled close. “It would have been better to leave home for four consecutive away games with a hundred at home but it wasn’t to be. Hopefully I can make amends in the coming games.”

Bangladesh had to make do with shorter space for their warm-up session ahead of the first ODI against South Africa, as most of the ground was under covers amid leaden skies on Thursday.Soon, the players broke into two teams and played football before heading to the indoor nets of the Shere Bangla National Stadium. They stayed there for the next couple of hours as Dhaka experienced one heavy shower after another.More rain has been forecast for Friday, but that didn’t stop Mashrafe Mortaza from stating what he expects from his team in the first ODI against South Africa.”We have to play well by adjusting to the wicket,” Mashrafe said. “We have to be a step ahead of South Africa in every department. This is how you win against such a team. We had gone into a habit of winning matches since the World Cup. Everyone wants to win and this is our job.”But by focusing on the results too much, we forget the process with which we got the wins. We should go back to the basics, and to the mentality through which we turned things around since the World Cup.”Much of the talk ahead of the ODI series has centered around the pitch, especially after it offered considerable turn in the two T20s. While Mashrafe admitted that there was ‘confusion’ about the pitch, he said that the hosts would be better off if they don’t ponder too much about the wicket.”There is some confusion about the wicket. By that I mean, our batsmen and bowlers have been doing well on true wickets since the World Cup. But we also have think about their pace attack,” he said.”I think it is better not to think too much about the wicket. We have to keep our processes right, whoever is bowling at us. We have handled top bowlers in the recent past. Maybe we haven’t played in such wickets for a while, which is why have struggled a bit.”Bangladesh had struggled to come to terms with spin in the T20s, with left-arm spinner Aaron Phangiso, offspinner JP Duminy and debutant legspinner Eddie Leie taking nine wickets between them. South Africa’s spin attack will be further bolstered by Imran Tahir, who was the leading wicket taker in the World T20 in Bangladesh last year with 12 scalps at 10.91.”Imran Tahir has been bowling well for some time now. South Africa has been using him as a wicket-taking option. We have plans to encounter him although we did struggle against spin in the last two matches,” Mashrafe said.Mashrafe, though, backed Shakib Al Hasan, Arafat Sunny and Jubair Hossain to perform better than their opposite numbers. “If you look at his record, Shakib is one of the best bowlers in the world. Imran Tahir and their other spinners are doing well, and will be confident following the T20 series but I still expect our spinners to be a step above their spinners.”Mashrafe also stressed on the importance of Mahmudullah’s return, after the batsman missed the India series due to injury. “Mahmudullah is a key player who did very well for us at the World Cup,” Mashrafe said. “Unfortunately he got injured, so his return is quite important to us. He hadn’t played in the last month or so due to injury. He will need time to give his best but I am sure he will try the hardest.”

Ross Turner, the former ICC global development manager, will be the Bangladesh Cricket Board’s consultant to formulate its long-term strategic plan from 2015. He is expected to arrive in the country next month to complete formalities for a role that will span the next four years.Turner has previously worked for the BCB, the ICC, Cricket Australia and Cricket New South Wales on several occasions. He visited Bangladesh in 2000 as the ICC global development officer and for working with umpires. His last role in Bangladesh was as the head coach of the National Cricket Academy in Mirpur.This time he will prepare strategies that will include finding out ways to make the Bangladesh team improve their Test rankings as well as overall game development in the country from the grassroots level.”Ross Turner will assist the BCB in putting together the strategic plan from 2015 to 2018,” BCB CEO Nizamuddin Chowdhury said. “He will come to Dhaka in January. He has worked with us a number of times in the past and knows our culture.”Cricket has changed to a great degree over time and considering the present status, we need to focus on developing a good strategy. We must find a way to get the best output that can help us meet requirements in key areas.”Turner will be expected to spend some time in Bangladesh though it won’t be a residential position. He had left his last job here on health grounds in 2011.The BCB CEO also informed that Stuart Karppinen has been given the added responsibility of NCA operations manager along with his primary duty as a trainer.The board is still looking to fill the NCA head coach position after Richard McInnes left earlier this year. Sources have said that talks are on with a few senior coaches.

New Zealand had Brendon McCullum and Scott Styris at the crease, andonly needed a further seven runs in the 20th over to win. The matchwas theirs for the taking, provided they didn’t lose any furtherwickets, and the series would have been levelled. But at 7.25pm, sixballs away from ensuring a result for either side, the umpires gave into the lashing rain at Edgbaston. New Zealand were well and trulyrobbed, as were a hardy and patient crowd of 16,000.”It’s a game we would have won if we’d played all the overs,” DanielVettori, the New Zealand captain, said, “or even got that 20th over,so there’s a sense of disappointment in the dressing room. It’s almostlike a loss.”Fortune generally favours the brave, but not on this occasion. New Zealand desperately needed a slice of luck, a break – anything to get their tour back on track after losing the Test series, and receiving a whipping in both the Twenty20 and first ODI. Despiteoutplaying England, today it was not to be, thanks to the most anal ofregulations. Rain and poor light had prevented play from startinguntil 3pm, but even so, it was decided they would take a 30-minuteinterval in between innings, in spite of the awful weather forecastdue and the excellent light the ground was enjoying at that precisetime.”It’s just one of those common-sense solutions [that was needed],”Vettori said. “We bowled one allotment of 13 overs and one of 11, soit wasn’t like we were tired or anything. It could have been reducedto ten minutes and we’d have gone straight back out there,[especially] with that knowledge of what weather was coming. If youcan take the common-sense approach to most things, they normally getsorted out.”In addition to the interval, England were themselves a little slow intaking nearly an hour to bowl 13 overs, further hampering the game’sprogress, and Vettori was quick to emphasise the umpires’responsibility. “There were a lot of stoppages. Some were necessary,some were not. I’ve played for a long, long time and never been finedfor a slow over-rate. If some people can do it, then I think youshould push the case through.”It’s all too easy to blame the umpires on occasions like these, butthere was undoubted gamesmanship from England that could easily havebeen nipped in the bud by Steve Davis and Ian Gould. A stray plasticbag seemed to take an age to be removed, while England’s oddlyenthusiastic fielding changes appeared to take place after nearlyevery delivery. Responding to their tardy over-rate, Paul Collingwoodinsisted that there was no foul play from England or dirty tacticsinvolved.”It wasn’t a tactical thing or anything like that,” he said,pointedly. “I guess we were chasing the ball a little bit at times.That happens, and you’re not going to get through your overs as quick.It wasn’t tactical and I didn’t realise it was that slow. I waswatching the Duckworth-Lewis all the time and we were there orthereabouts. We were only one wicket away from clinching it really, soit was going down to the wire.”Like Vettori, though, Collingwood blamed the no-result on the fattenedinterval between innings. “That’s probably the disappointment of the day actually,” he said.”When you’ve got a shortened game like that, to have a 30-minute breakbetween innings surprised us a bit, to be honest. We were ready to goout in 10 or 15 minutes.”It’s a shame that it was 30 but it’s in the regulations and we can’tchange it. It needs to be looked at, because we’d all had lunch beforethe game had started, so there was nothing to do between innings.”I can understand [the crowd] getting frustrated when it goes down tothe wire. It’s in the rules and regulations so there’s nothing we can doas players, but I do believe it’s something that has to be looked out.We could have gone out there in 10 or 15 minutes; from a player’spoint of view, we were ready to go.”In the current climate, it is unfortunate timing for 50-over cricketto be made to look so foolish. Its younger, hip cousin has it allwrapped up in half the time, after all. Cricket’s regulations areoften its Achilles heel, and in times like these, when the landscapeis changing so quickly, common sense simply must prevail. One-daycricket remains a huge income stream for boards, but its dissenterswill be quietly chuckling at the archaic regulations that were playedout so perfectly today.

The 25th anniversary celebrations of India’s 1983 World Cup-winning campaign will not involve the Board of Control for Cricket in India in any capacity. It is reported that the BCCI was reluctant to get involved because a few members of that squad, including the captain Kapil Dev, have shifted to the rival Indian Cricket league (ICL), which the board has refused to recognise.The private celebrations have been organised by Professional Management Group, a firm run by Sunil Gavaskar, who was also a member of the squad. Speaking to the , Kapil said it was highly unlikely the BCCI would even be invited.”I’m not hurt that the board is not organising the function,” Kapil told the paper. “Why should I be hurt? The important thing is not whether the board is backing off because of me or the ICL, but whether we will invite the board members or not. Right now, it doesn’t look like that we’ll interested in calling them. This is an event by Sunny [Gavaskar] and I’m helping him with it.”The BCCI also confirmed they weren’t doing anything to honour the cricketers. “Let them do whatever they’re doing,” Ratnakar Shetty, the BCCI’s chief administrative officer, said. “We haven’t got any invitation from them for any intimation.”The BCCI’s non involvement in the celebrations was always on the cards ever since former players like Kapil, Madan Lal and Balwinder Sandhu joined the ICL. The board responded by revoking pensions to all former players linked to the league. Kapil was sacked as chairman of the BCCI-run National Cricket Academy after accepting the position as the chairman of the ICL’s executive board.As part of the celebrations, all squad members will be involved in four six-a-side matches across the country next month. Dubai will host a dinner function on June 19 before the big party at the Long Room at Lord’s six days later, where the team pulled off the victory. The celebrations will include a music programme and a golf tournament. Several of the West Indies players who featured in that match are expected to attend.

Scorecard

Danielle Hazell spun the England Development side to a 33-run win over Ireland at Crowthorne on Sunday. Hazell, the England-contracted player, picked up 3 for 16 to including the wicket of topscorer Nicki Coffey to help them to victory after Georgia Elwiss and Jasmine Titmuss had dismissed the top order.Coffey ended with 47 but her efforts went unrewarded as Ireland were all out for 131, chasing the England side’s 164. Wicketkeeper Sophie Le Marchand was the home side’s leading scorer but she too fell just short of her fifty, with 46 before becoming one of Suzanne Kenealy’s three victims.The development side went on to meet England as part of the seniors’ warm-up for their one-day series against South Africa which begins this week, but the match was eventually abandoned.

The Chandigarh Lions warmed up for the bigger prize with a six-wicket win over the Chennai Superstars in the ICL 20-20 domestic tournament final in Hyderabad. G Vignesh (48 from 32 balls) and Hemang Badani (51 from 42) scored the bulk of Chennai’s disappointing 136 after they chose to bat, and Dinesh Mongia’s team overhauled it in the final over. After stemming Chennai’s innings with 2 for 16 from four overs, Mongia, the Chandigarh captain, slammed 61 from 48 balls to help his side home.Chennai had Chandigarh in trouble at 21 for 3 but Mongia and Gaurav Gupta added 84 in ten overs. Mongia hit seven fours and two sixes during his innings and Gupta finished unbeaten on 43 to guide Chandigarh to victory.The second season of the ICL starts on October 10. There will be 41 matches played across four venues, with plenty of hype surrounding the ninth team, the Dhaka Warriors.