All posts by csb10.top

Mickey Arthur, South Africa’s coach, believes England need to get the attacking best out of Andrew Flintoff in this summer’s Ashes. Arthur, who coached South Africa to a Test series victory over England last year, said Flintoff’s approach toward the side then was not aggressive enough.”We felt Andrew Flintoff bowled too negatively against South Africa last summer. I’d like to see him used as a more attacking option because he has the ability to do that,” he told the . “I would like to see Flintoff given the licence to attack along with James Anderson, whom we rated very highly when we faced him last year, while Stuart Broad is used asmore of a control bowler, who will make the batsmen play and probe away around off stump.”Another bowler who Arthur singled out was Graeme Swann, expected to be England’s first-choice spinner in Cardiff on July 8. “I’ve been very impressed with Graeme Swann, who has convinced me there can be a future for the orthodox offspinner in Test cricket, contrary to popular belief (and mine),” said Arthur. “He likes to bowl an attacking line which means he might go for more runs but he will take wickets, especially against the left-handers in Australia’s top order. At the moment he is a better option than Monty Panesar, who had no variation against us in 2008.”While he commended the selectors’ decision to bat Ravi Bopara at No. 3, Arthur was wary of how well Bopara would handle the pressure, and how England’s batting would cope against Australia’s pace attack. “England have been bold and made some proper decisions with selection: bringing in Ravi Bopara at No.3 and deciding on a five-man bowling attack with Matt Prior batting at six. There has been total clarity and no room for confusion,” he said. “Players cannot say they don’t know where they stand. My concern, though, is that in their quest to take 20 wickets they have put a huge amount of pressure on their five main batters.”I was impressed with what I saw of Bopara against West Indies but he’s still relatively untried and there is a huge amount of pressure on Kevin Pietersen. If Australia use the new ball well, then they could put the England top order under a lot of pressure. For me the key to the series is how well England’s top five do as a unit. It’s a really tough series to call.”Arthur felt the bowling attacks were fairly even, with England having a clear advantage with spin, but said Australia’s batting had more depth.

Scoreboard and ball-by-ball details
How they were out
Ryan Watson was superb with both bat and ball, but Scotland still ended up short•Getty Images

At the half-way stage of a match that rain reduced to a seven-over hitting contest, it looked as though there would be the second big upset of the tournament in two matches. Scotland had started in top gear and stayed there through their innings to set a challenging target, but New Zealand’s array of big-hitters knocked off the runs in style with an over to spare.The hardy fans who endured a frustrating wait for more than two hours were treated to a barrage of clean-hitting from both teams, but what stood out was the high quality of cricketing shots played. While the batsmen were aware of the pressing need for big runs, the match didn’t descend into a slogfest.Ryan Watson gave the crowd plenty to cheer by kicking off the game with a flurry of boundaries in the first over, and though he was dismissed in the third over, Kyle Coetzer and Navdeep Poonia blitzed 59 in 27 balls to keep a weakened New Zealand bowling – Daniel Vettori and Kyle Mills were injured – on the backfoot.Coetzer was particularly harsh on Jesse Ryder, a perfectly placed cut, a powerful loft over long-off, and a punch past extra cover getting him 14 off three balls. Poonia showed off his skills with a wristy clip to fine leg followed by a swat over midwicket in the sixth over. They could have reached 100 had it not been for the three wickets that fell on the final three deliveries off the innings, bowled by Man-of-the-Match Ian Butler.New Zealand’s nerves, in the face of such a big target, were eased by stand-in captain Brendon McCullum, who slammed four off-side boundaries off the first over. Not to be outdone, Ryder gave an exhibition of his range of hitting in the third over, blasting 20 runs off the first four balls to take New Zealand past 50.The opening onslaught left Scotland in a hole, and their bowlers made it worse by gifting a bunch of no-balls. The fielding was below-par as well, with Gordon Drummond’s miss of a simple skier from Jacob Oram in the fifth over epitomising the effort. Watson had tried to get Scotland back with a tight start to that over, but not only did Drummond fluff the chance, the ball rolled over for four vital runs as well. The wicketkeeper Colin Smith dropped a tougher opportunity off Ross Taylor later in the over, and was a bit tardy in attempting a stumping as well.Scotland could not afford such slip-ups, and New Zealand duly completed the job in the next over, plundering 22, including three sixes off the first four balls.The shortened match also meant Scotland’s run-rate took a huge hit – they are now at -2.2 – which means they will mostly need a big win against a strong South Africa on Sunday if they are to stay in the tournament.

Saqlain Mushtaq, the former Pakistan offspinner, has offered to coach Australia’s spinners on bowling the doosra, the away-spinning delivery which he is credited with inventing. Saqlain’s offer comes in the wake of Australia’s struggle to pick the delivery during the ongoing ODI series against Pakistan in the UAE.”If there is any opportunity for me to work in Australia, I would love to take that opportunity,” Saqlain told the . “I can teach them [the doosra] if they want my services.”Nathan Hauritz, Australia’s frontline offspinner, has been working on the ball for two years in the nets. His contemporaries, Dan Cullen and Jason Krejza have also been practicing but are yet to perfect the delivery. In the UAE, Pakistan’s Saeed Ajmal kept the Australian batsmen in check by repeatedly bowling the delivery. However, the doosra came under scrutiny during the second ODI and he was subsequently reported for a suspect action.The ICC rules allow a maximum limit of 15 degrees of flexion, which means no bowler can extend their elbow beyond that level, but Saqlain felt it was possible to bowl the doosra within the laws. Saqlain incidentally has a level-two coaching certificate.”When you plant the front foot, use your shoulder and lock the wrist you can do it without bending your arm,” he said. “But if there is a problem in the front foot, in the wrist or in the balance, then you can’t do it.”After Ajmal and South African offspinner Johan Botha were reported for the same offence in the space of two weeks, former players Ramiz Raja and Geoff Boycott have asked the ICC to legalise the delivery.

Andrew Flintoff has returned home from the Indian Premier League to undergo surgery on a torn meniscus in his right knee.Flintoff had been appearing for Chennai Super Kings in the IPL when he felt discomfort in his right knee. The Chennai medical staff immediately contacted ECB’s chief medical officer Dr Nick Peirce. Scans were taken of the right knee in a Durban hospital and they detected a slight medial meniscal tear and after these were viewed by Peirce it was decided that Flintoff should return to London.He will undergo an operation early next week and surgeons are confident that he should recover from the keyhole surgery within three to five weeks.”Clearly this is a huge disappointment for both the player and the IPL team,” Peirce said. “This sort of degenerative injury though is one that could have happened at any time any where. The procedures we put in place meant that the ECB medical staff were alerted about the problem immediately and we thank Chennai for their co operation.”Hugh Morris, the ECB’s managing director of cricket, added: “Andrew has been extremely unlucky with injuries but if there is one saving grace it is that the injury has occurred now rather than on the eve of either the ICC World Twenty20 or the Ashes.”Having the surgery now means that Flintoff should be available for both those events although he is certain to miss the Test series against the West Indies.”Flintoff, who along with Kevin Pietersen commanded the highest auction price in IPL history earlier this year, endured a difficult few weeks since joining the Chennai franshise. His return of 0-50 against Delhi was the most expensive of any IPL bowler through Thursday, and his 1-44 against Mumbai barely better. In all, Flintoff claimed two wickets at 52.50 (and an economy rate of 9.54) in three games with the Super Kings. He fared better with the bat, averaging a respectable 31.00 at better than a run-a-ball in three inningsFlintoff’s torn knee meniscus represents the second major injury to befall a veteran Chennai Super Kings player in as many seasons. Matthew Hayden tore an Achilles tendon during his four-game stint in the inaugural IPL, and was subsequently ruled out of Australia’s tour of the West Indies.

ScorecardMichael Vaughan collects an early boundary but his innings didn’t last very long•Getty Images

Australian quick bowlers are likely to cause English batsmen plenty of problems this season, but their impact began unexpectedly early as England’s prospective No. 3 options were given a torrid time at Lord’s. The MCC’s top order, including Michael Vaughan, Ian Bell and Robert Key, was dismantled by Callum Thorp and Mitchell Claydon – from Western Australian and New South Wales respectively – as the three premier batsmen made a combined total of 29 runs.At the start of an Ashes summer it didn’t go unnoticed that it was two Australians who did the damage, putting a spanner in the works of those hoping to make the selectors sit up and take notice, as the MCC finally got a chance to bat after two days of frustration. Both bowlers are playing county cricket under British passports, but their performances certainly helped their home rather than adopted country.Thorp had a brief career with Western Australia, but Claydon had to turn down a chance to play for New South Wales this winter because he wanted to retain his status in the UK. This was just his seventh first-class match of a career which started in 2005 with Yorkshire, where he spent plenty of time bowling to Vaughan in the nets. It took him five balls to remove Vaughan with one that bounced a touch more outside off as he tried to cut, three balls after a similar shot had brought four over point.”In my second year I played a few games with him at Headingley,” Claydon said. “I had a plan to pitch it up and try and knock him out, but short and wide worked.”Vaughan jerked his head back in frustration, but although this opportunity had been notched up in importance over the last few days it shouldn’t be make-or-break as far as his Test chances are concerned. With an enlarged squad set to be named next weekend Vaughan should find a slot and then be able to make a final push for selection during a couple of Championship matches for Yorkshire.Vaughan had come to the crease in the sixth over after Key, with plenty of his own reasons to impress the selectors, edged a low catch to gully to give Thorp his first wicket when play finally began at one o’clock. It took Vaughan ten balls to open his account, but he was finally offered the chance to free his arms when Liam Plunkett dropped his first ball short and Vaughan cracked it through point.A similar boundary followed when he cut Claydon’s opening delivery one bounce over the rope, but three balls later an attempted repeat brought his downfall. Such are the fine lines that batsmen tread.The day didn’t go much better for Bell, the man probably in main competition with Vaughan if Owais Shah is replaced, as he also fell for 12 to the impressive Thorp. During a dangerous spell from the Nursery End, Thorp troubled all the batsmen and had Bell edging behind as he pushed forward to one that left him. Early-season English conditions aren’t the easiest for batsmen trying to find form and they were well exploited well by Thorp.The most impressive strokeplay came from Stephen Moore, the Worcestershire opener who was part of the Lions tour to New Zealand, as he struck eight boundaries in his 45. Very strong square of the wicket, he upper-cut the day’s first ball over the slips and regularly picked off any width through the off side.Moore was the leading first-class run-scorer in 2008 but his presence in this game has been overshadowed by the three batsmen aiming for England recalls, yet he looked the most in-form of any of the top order. However, after doing the hard work in tough conditions he edged a low catch to Mustard when trying to drive at Thorp.Thorp played a key role in securing Durham’s maiden Championship title last season with a career-best 7 for 88 in the final game against Kent and has picked up where he left off. He claimed his fourth scalp when James Foster was trapped on the crease to leave MCC on 81 for 5.Some home-grown talent finally got among the wickets in the final session when Liam Plunkett uprooted Adil Rashid’s off stump with a perfect, full outswinger and Graham Onions promptly dispatched Tim Bresnan leg-before. A few moments later the light was offered and shortly afterwards play was abandoned.Durham are the only team able to take much from the truncated match and are looking in good order ahead of their Championship defence. For the England hopefuls it’s a case wait, watch and hope.

On board the McGain train
It’s six months since Bryce McGain embarked on his first tour with theAustralians and finally he has a baggy green to show for it. After thedisappointment of being sent home from India with an injury, and beingoverlooked in Johannesburg and Durban, McGain was given his chanceafter a bout of gastro felled Marcus North. McGain has waited a longtime for the opportunity and he turns 37 next week. At the age of 36years and 359 days, he became Australia’s oldest Test debutant since his fellow legspinner Bob Holland, who was 38 and 35 days when heplayed the first of his 11 Tests against West Indies in Brisbane in1984-85.The debut blues
After South Africa lost the toss their new opener Imraan Khan had towait for his first opportunity to bat for his country. But there werestill some nerves from Imraan in the field when he put down a sitter atbackward point in the first session. Simon Katich was on 9 when heprodded the ball straight to Imraan, who couldn’t get his hands aroundit and felt the eyes of more than 8000 fans at Newlands hone in on himafter his first unsuccessful act in Test cricket.Captain by consensus
Jacques Kallis is the kind of captain who asks his team-mates whatthey think. It’s a method that might work given their success on thefirst day but it wasn’t so useful when they tried to make the most ofthe referral system. When Katich was on 4, a giant lbw shoutfrom Makhaya Ntini was turned down and Kallis declined to ask thethird umpire. The replays showed the ball pitched in line and wouldhave hit the stumps. Then when Kallis did decide to use the reviewsthey backfired – also both from Ntini to Katich lbw appeals. The firstpitched outside leg and the second was inside-edged.Tossed out
South Africa joked in the lead-up to the match that maybe withoutGraeme Smith at the helm they would have a chance of winning the toss.Smith called incorrectly in all three Tests in Australia and RickyPonting picked right at the Wanderers and Kingsmead. But Kallis didn’tadd any luck to that department for the hosts and Ponting again chosecorrectly. When Australia battled to build a decent score on the firstday the South Africans might have been thinking that their fortune hadturned after all.

India have brought rains with them, locals in Christchurch claim. But when it came to India’s first practice session, the clouds made way for the sun, and India trained in ideal conditions at the picturesque Bert Sutcliffe Oval. Equally warm was the reception that India got – largely from Indians living in New Zealand, at a ground half an hour away from the town and not known by many in the city.Earlier in the day, though, the thoughts of outdoor activities looked unlikely. It was an ideal winter morning with the rain sounding pitter-patter on the canopy of a street café near Cathedral Square, a perfect place to enjoy a hot coffee. The radio announced: “The rockstars of cricket are here.” So did a hoarding outside the AMI Stadium, which was closed on the weekend. The “rockstars” campaign has been devised to advertise India’s tour of New Zealand.Elsewhere profiled some of the key Indian players under the headline, “The happy-slog millionaires”.The Indian team took a bus to Lincoln University, which houses the Oval, passing by lush green meadows and the idyllic Prebbleton village.For someone new to the city, it is difficult to believe a team would go so far out of the city for the nets session. But the England Lions, here to face New Zealand Emerging Players, were already training there when the Indians arrived.The Indians may be used to drawing attention wherever they go in the world but even they wouldn’t have expected the numbers that turned up to watch them at a ground half of Christchurch hasn’t heard of.The Lions, including Luke Wright, Samit Patel and Sajid Mahmood, went on about their business like university students on a routine day. Not a single journalist to watch, a fan was a far cry. The ground staff golf-carted their way around the ground as they would on any other day. But around 2.30pm, cars started pulling up in front of the ground. From nowhere a crowd of about 35 gathered, one of them a courier driver and a school mate of Irfan Pathan’s. John Wright was surprised to see the crowd and realised what they were there for only after the Indian team arrived. “Sachin, Sachin,” he chanted, though not too loud lest the man himself heard.This was no routine practice session. The groundstaff had to get to work immediately to keep people out of the nets area. The word spread, and in no time the crowd almost doubled. A few Indian university students, along with their New Zealand friends, were among those who stayed the longest. Out came the bean bags, sofa, an easy chair, from what looked like a hostel building near the Oval. And the beer. The rest made good use of the grass banks around the ground. Every good shot at the nets, every good extraordinary delivery bowled, every special catch taken in the fielding practice, was cheered.The players also kept the crowd entertained with banter loud enough to be heard across the nets. But despite the fun and games, it was an intense first session, focusing on all three disciplines, after which all the players took time to sign autographs – on bats, papers, and bodies – and take photographs. A quaint university had come to life for three hours. The locals acknowledged not many would turn up if New Zealand were training. That will be put to test on Monday, when the hosts assemble after finishing their domestic Twenty20s.

ScorecardAfter a two-wicket loss to Canterbury Women in the domestic 50-over final yesterday, Wellington Women had their revenge with a last-over win in the State League Twenty20 final at the Basin Reserve. Chasing 124 to win, Wellington knocked off the runs with three deliveries to spare.The Wellington opener Lucy Doolan played a significant role in the chase, hitting 63 off 51 deliveries. Wickets fell around Doolan, but she stood firm to anchor the chase. Her dismissal, stumped by Rowan Milburn off the bowling of Frankie Mackay in the 15th over, left Wellington 91 for 5. Liz Perry’s 22 from 23 balls, without a boundary, took the game into the final over but she was run out first ball, with five still to get. Anna Dodd and Melinda Hodgson saw Wellington through with three balls to spare.Having elected to bat, Canterbury were given a 57-run opening stand from Mackay and Maria Fahey. It was Doohan who snapped it, dismissing Mackay for 20 off 24 balls. The offspinner Anna Dodd then bowled Fahey six deliveries later, triggering a collapse to 123. Amanda Cooper took three scalps with Sophie Devine, Dodd and Doolan picking up two each.Wellinton’s win was fair reward for a side that have set the bench mark for women’s domestic cricket all season.

Sri Lanka have included only one newcomer in their women’s squad for the one-day tri-series in Bangladesh from February 3 to 17. Deepika Ranasinghe, who plays for the Colts Cricket Club, is part of the 14-member squad that will play Pakistan and the hosts in a lead-up to the World Cup, which will be held in March.Ranasinghe replaces Chamari Bandara in the squad that beat West Indies 3-2 at home last November. Sanduni Abeywickrama, who played three matches in the series, has been named as a standby, along with Gayathri Kariyawasam and Prashadhani Weerakkody.Sri Lanka women: Shashikala Siriwardene (capt), Chamari Polgampola, Dedunu Silva, Suwini de Alwis, Chamani Seneviratna, Eshani Kaushalya, Sripali Weerakkody, Dilani Manodara (wk), Hiruka Fernando, Rose Fernando, Chandi Wickremasinghe, Inoka Galagedara, Deepika Ranasinghe, Udeshika Prabodhani.

A senior Pakistan board official has said Sri Lanka have confirmed they will tour Pakistan next month in place of India, who called off their scheduled tour to the country on Thursday.Saleem Altaf, the PCB’s chief operating officer, said Sri Lanka are expected to play three Tests, three ODIs and a Twenty20 game against Pakistan following their tour of Bangladesh, which ends on January 14.”We thank Sri Lankan Cricket for confirming a tour in place of India,” Altaf told . “We have sent a full itinerary to Sri Lanka and as soon as it is finalised we will announce it.”Earlier this week, Arjuna Ranatunga, the SLC chairman, said the board was confident of the security measures in place in Pakistan and would not hesitate to send a team there.The BCCI’s decision, which was prompted following advice from the Indian government, has led to huge disappointment in Pakistan and some concern over the future of the game there. “Pakistan will suffer both financially and cricket-wise,” Ramiz Raja, a former captain and administrator, said. “But India in a way is also dependent on Pakistan, and when the two countries play each other, they improve and the following of the game increases.”The Indian government’s directive said it was not feasible “in the prevailing circumstances”, a reference to the fallout of the Mumbai attacks which India alleges had links to elements in Pakistan. Ramiz, though, felt cricket would have helped improve the current volatile situation between the two countries.Wasim Akram, another former captain, said the cancellation would lessen the charm of Test cricket which was already under pressure from the Twenty20 format. “Deep inside we feel for the victims of Mumbai and hope such incidents do not take place again,” Wasim said. “We toured India in 1999 despite tensions and death threats. Now I hope the temperature will go down and cricket will resume because it is very important that India and Pakistan play each other.”