All posts by h716a5.icu

26-May-2011
ScorecardAllrounder Matt Coles celebrated his 21st birthday by cracking the boundary that saved Kent from following-on against Derbyshire during a rain-affected third day of County Championship action in Canterbury.When heavy showers finally put paid to a protracted day, Derbyshire had reached 85 for 1 in their second innings for an overall lead of 193 going into the fourth and final day.In search of their second centuries of this Division Two contest, visiting batsmen Wayne Madsen and Usman Khawaja had reached 43 and 32 not out respectively, before rain arrived for a third and final time just after 5pm. Kent’s only success came after six overs when Chesney Hughes (eight) drove on the up against Ashley Shaw and only succeeded in picking out Azhar Mahmood at mid-off.The hosts had started the day under the cosh on 198 for 4 in their first innings and needing 311 to avoid batting again as they replied to Derbyshire’s 460 all out. They soon lost nightwatchman Neil Saker leg before wicket to the eighth ball of the day from all-rounder Tim Groenewald, who then enticed Darren Stevens to play across the line and also depart lbw, this time for seven.Experienced duo Geraint Jones and James Tredwell teamed up to add a useful 46 for the seventh wicket before Jones, having just celebrated an 80-ball half-century, went leg before to Jonathan Clare’s first delivery with the second new ball.Tredwell took three boundaries in an over when fellow off-spinner Azeem Rafiq attempted to bowl on with a greasy ball and had posted an eye-catching 34 when he fell, caught behind from an airy drive, to the seventh ball after lunch from Jonathan Clare.Coles and Azhar Mahmood took Kent to their third batting bonus point and it was Coles, with a glorious square drive on the up, that eventually eased Kent to 311 and alleviate the risk of following on. Mahmood went soon after, lbw to the impressive Groenewald – who finished with 4 wickets for 64 runs.However, Coles and last man Shaw survived a further eight overs in helping Kent to 352 all out – their best total to date in this season’s championship.

Darren Sammy admits West Indies’ batsmen are lacking in confidence and hopes sports psychologist Rudi Webster can help them with the issue

Sriram Veera in Barbados 27-Jun-2011Rudi Webster, the sports psychologist, sat in the small viewer’s gallery at the Kensington Oval, and watched West Indies’ nets session. Last month, he was breathing fire against the West Indies board. “The board must now step up to the plate, accept responsibility for their substandard performance and design ways to improve it,” he wrote in a column. “They can start by answering the three questions that were posed earlier: where are we going, what do we believe in, and what do we exist for?”Webster has now been roped in ahead of the second Test against India to help the West Indies batsmen. West Indies’ batting in recent times has had been like a déjà vu. Every time West Indies get themselves into a strong position, the batsmen slip up, and collapse. Ian Bishop called it frailty of the mind.Darren Sammy, the West Indies captain, acknowledged that the batsmen are lacking in confidence. “Sometimes, the opposition, the pressure, the situation of the game, we don’t handle it as well as we should. We bat well, get into good positions and then collapse. So when we are in that situation, we need to rise above it. That’s a mental issue. Hopefully what the doc is doing will work for us. He is trying to build some confidence in our batsmen.”The time frame seems too short. Webster joined just two days ahead of the Test. What can he do on such short notice? “Everybody starts somewhere,” Sammy said. “Throughout the past few series, apart from the first Test in Sri Lanka, our batting has been struggling a bit. Webster’s inclusion can hopefully work out for the best.”Webster looks avuncular. He chats with the Indian journalists about confidence and fear. “If I place a plank down on the ground and ask you to walk, you will walk. But if I place that plank in the air and ask you to walk you won’t. You will worry about all the attached fear.”Perhaps, it is not just fear of failing but fear or nervousness to achieve success that is at the root of West Indies’ problem. Sammy cited some instances. “Once we create an opportunity to get on top we should stay on top. We don’t often find often ourselves in that situation and so we find it difficult to put the nail in the coffin. We have been working on it. Hopefully, in this game we can get it all together.”Sammy comes across as a man who tries to be open to criticism. “I should contribute with the bat,” he said. “I know it’s affecting me and the team. I have not been able to put runs on board.”However, he must be getting increasingly tired of the Chris Gayle question. He has been assaulted on the issue at every venue. He often first tries to manoeuvre around a question before he is almost forced by reporters to give a straight answer. Monday was no different. “Whoever is picked must score runs. Whatever issues they have is beyond my control. It’s between the board and Gayle to sort it out,” was Sammy’s first attempt to duck the probe. The questions did not stop, though.Would you like to have him in your team if he is available? “If he is available why not?”When did you last interact with him? “I cannot recall. I last saw Chris in Jamaica. We said hi and that was it.”The inquest continued. Are you still friends? Sammy allowed himself a grin before saying, “As far as I know we are still friends. He hasn’t done anything wrong to me and I haven’t done anything wrong to him. That constitutes friendship.” That answer finally drew some smiles.The fact is, though, that Gayle will not play the Barbados Test, and however skilled a psychologist Webster is, only the West Indies batsmen can actually break the déjà vu. Will they?

VVS Laxman is unconcerned about India’s limited preparation time in England before the first Test and has backed the team to continue their much-improved overseas performance of the past 10 years

Andrew McGlashan at Taunton16-Jul-2011VVS Laxman is unconcerned about India’s limited preparation time in England before the first Test and has backed the team to continue their much-improved overseas performance of the past 10 years. The visitors have struggled in their only warm-up match against Somerset with the bowling far from impressive and the batsmen struggling, but Laxman insists international players know how to adjust.Sachin Tendulkar, Gautam Gambhir and Zaheer Khan – all certain starters at Lord’s – are playing their first first-class match in almost seven months. Zaheer ended wicketless in the first innings, Gambhir fell for 21 and Tendulkar went for 26. Laxman, meanwhile, is sitting out the match having played three back-to-back Tests against West Indies but his team-mates were given the runaround with Somerset piling up 425 for 3 on a flat pitch.Rain also cut into the playing time which meant India were left with little more than one session and a day to take what they can from the game before heading to London.On their previous two tours, however, in West Indies and South Africa, India didn’t have a single practice match before the Test series. In South Africa they came a cropper in the opening Test, being hammered by an innings and 25 runs at Centurion, but in West Indies they won by 63 runs at Sabina Park and that was enough to take the series 1-0.”Because of the hectic nature of international cricket even playing one warm-up is a luxury these days,” Laxman said. “When we went to West Indies we didn’t have a single match before the Tests. We are quite confident and we’ll have good net sessions at Lord’s.”In international cricket with the kind of schedules everyone has you have to be ready for any sort of challenge. Saying that, we have an experienced batting line-up who have played in England before so I’m sure that will be helpful for us come Thursday.”The 1-0 series win in the Caribbean continued India’s much-improved record away from home. They came back to draw 1-1 in South Africa and have also held their own in Australia. On the 2007 tour of England, they won 1-0 and five years previously shared the series, which Laxman believes played an important part in transforming their fortunes outside of India. There was more than a hint of confidence when he wouldn’t single out this tour as harder than others.”Not necessarily but it’s certainly a very challenging tour,” he said. “Any overseas tour is always a challenge and we are all very proud of how we have changed our record abroad. When I started we weren’t very good but we’ve improved a lot. Our mindset has changed.”We got confidence from the 2002 series in England and before that in West Indies where we won at Trinidad, then at Headingley. Those series, and against Australia in 2003, changed our mindset and we started believing in ourselves. It’s given us a lot of pride the way we have performed overseas, both collectively and individually.”Every country offers different challenges. If you look at the wickets in West Indies they were quite tough to bat and when you visit South Africa, New Zealand or Australia they can be tough. They are conditions that are quite alien to you which offer a challenge.”Laxman’s record against England is one blot on his fantastic international record. He averages 34.35 against them without a hundred against his career figure of 47.36. He has, however, had more success against England playing away than on home soil which is something of a surprise. Laxman, though, doesn’t get too hung up on those figures but is looking forward to a chance of boosting his record against an England attack he calls “formidable”.”I don’t have a hundred against them but feel I’ve played some important knocks but not converted them,” he said. “I’ve always enjoyed facing the England bowling; it’s always formidable so I’m looking to maintaining my consistency of recent years and playing some important knocks.”They have a very balanced attack with real match-winners,” he said. “But I don’t want to compare and say whether they are the best. It’s going to be a highly challenging series, but we believe that if we play to our potential we can beat anyone.”

ESPNcricinfo’s Plays of the Day from the fourth day of the fourth Test between England and India at The Oval

Andrew Miller and Nagraj Gollapudi at The Oval21-Aug-2011Shot of the day
Amit Mishra walked in with a bat signed by Virender Sehwag during India’s first innings. Now, Sehwag himself had made only eight runs, faced eight deliveries and bagged a king pair in his first three innings of the series. Either way it wouldn’t have mattered to the England bowlers considering the way they have dominated the Indian batting through the series. But Mishra not only batted with gay abandon, usually a Sehwag trait, but also combined confidence with fluency to surprise the opposition. In his primary role as a legspinner he’d had a shocking time – 38-3-170-0 – but he left the Englishmen gaping when he charged Graeme Swann on the last ball before lunch, to hit the only six of the Indian innings high over long on.Catch of the day
At the MCG in December 1998, Mark Ramprakash at square leg flung himself full-stretch to his right to intercept a pull from Justin Langer, and set England on their way to a highly improbable victory. The circumstances were somewhat different this time around, but Ian Bell’s reactions were every bit as honed, as a valiant 43 from Mishra was brought to a spectacular ending. A short ball from Tim Bresnan got big on the pull, but Bell at short square leg had to watch the shot all the way off the bat, judge the miscued pace, and time his dive to perfection as the ball slapped his left palm, and nestled into his fingers as he fell to earth. A determined 87-run stand had been broken, and England’s victory bid had taken a major leap forward.Ball of the day
The shadows were lengthening and a small sense of satisfaction was spreading through the Indian camp. Despite another tough examination, they were inching towards the close with eight wickets still in hand and two of their big three in harness at the crease. But then, as so often this series, up popped James Anderson. At Trent Bridge he had produced a screamer to uproot VVS Laxman’s off stump, and though this replica delivery wasn’t quite in the same category, it proved far too good once again as it zipped off the deck and crashed into the top of off as a dazed Laxman stared forlornly down the track.Onslaught of the day
Rahul Dravid is not by nature the most demonstrative of batsmen, but whenever Swann has been in his sights in this series, he has come out with a touch of the KPs. Dravid’s handling of England’s spinner has been nothing short of masterful, and today, with 14 runs needed for his hundred, he knew what he wanted to do. From the second ball of Swann’s 20th over, he cleared his front leg and took on a brace of midwickets with a contemptuous slog-sweep. Two balls later, he rocked back on his heels and dabbed a delicious late cut through third man. Swann’s fifth ball was flicked through the gap at midwicket for another four, and he completed his surge with a dab-and-dive single to move to 99. Tim Bresnan made him wait a further four balls for the moment, but when it came, he was celebrating almost before his followthrough was complete.Milestone of the day
At half past three on Sunday, sections of the crowd rose for a standing ovation. Rahul Dravid had not reached the 150 mark. No England bowler had taken a wicket. Not even Sachin Tendulkar had made an appearance. Instead, when Dravid powerfully cut Tim Bresnan for a single, it was the first time India had managed to reach 300 runs in seven attempts this series. However, that was as good as their performance would get. The final two Indian wickets – RP Singh and Sreesanth – fell in the same over in quick succession in a span of three balls.Tempo-setter of the day
First ball of the innings, following on. Sehwag facing James Anderson. You know something is going to happen – something untoward, something exciting. And lo and behold, Sehwag goes for a powerful backfoot punch, only for a thin bottom edge to slither past the off stump and away to the rope for four. A boundary first-up is usually a sign of good times to come for Sehwag, but rarely do such strokes draws monstrous gasps from the crowd.Placard of the day
“England v Dravid, The Wall”. Self-explanatory, isn’t it?

Scotland extended their dominance over Namibia and secured a 4-1 Twenty20 series win with a crushing 126-run victory in the fifth match at Windhoek High School

ESPNcricinfo staff05-Oct-2011
Scorecard
Scotland extended their dominance over Namibia and secured a 4-1 Twenty20 series win with a crushing 126-run victory in the fifth match at Windhoek High School. Richie Berrington’s 63 underpinned Scotland’s innings, helping them to reach 181 for 7, after which Namibia’s chase imploded in spectacular fashion and they were all out for 55 in the 11th over.Berrington’s half-century had been Scotland’s only innings of any length, but there were contributions from most of the batsmen as they opted to bat in their final match of the tour. Calum Macleod helped Berrington put together an opening stand of 57 in good time, and the only real wobble of Scotland’s innings came when they lost Fraser Watts and Berrington in the space of two overs to slip to 132 for 5.Gordon Drummond was at hand to give the innings late impetus, slamming two of the six balls he faced over the boundary. Gerrie Snyman, Andre Engelbrecht and Bernard Scholtz picked up two wickets apiece.Namibia lost the hard-hitting Louis van der Westhuizen in the first over of their reply, and by the middle of the third over they were tottering dangerously at 14 for 3, Drummond striking twice in his only over. Once captain Craig Williams was dismissed by Safyaan Sharif the slide began in earnest, Namibia slipping from 35 for 3 to 37 for 7 in the space of just more than an over.Preston Mommsen helped himself to three quick wickets as the tail offered no resistance, having Engelbrecht caught by Watts to bring the match to an end.

A Nottinghamshire collapse left the hosts staring at defeat as Sussex took firm control of their County Championship meeting at Trent Bridge

14-Sep-2011
Scorecard
A Nottinghamshire collapse left the hosts staring at defeat as Sussex took firm control of their County Championship meeting at Trent Bridge.Beginning the day on 132 for 1, 356 behind the visitors, Nottinghamshire reached 206 for 2 before losing their last eight batsmen for 105, with Monty Panesar and Naved Arif taking three wickets each. Darren Bravo and captain Chris Read both hit half-centuries but Nottinghamshire were still dismissed for 311 and were duly asked to follow on.Panesar picked up two more victims to take his season’s haul to 69 as Nottinghamshire lost three wickets in 11 balls before bad light brought an early end to proceedings, with them still trailing by 74 runs.On a slow and flat Trent Bridge wicket, Nottinghamshire supporters had every reason to think their side could avoid the follow-on having seen Sussex rack up 488 over the first two days. Overnight batsmen Karl Turner and Bravo both progressed with little trouble – Bravo hitting Panesar for a six over long-off – before James Anyon’s worthy opening spell claimed a wicket as Turner played on off the back foot for 64.Bravo reached a patient 50 off 144 balls but then saw Riki Wessels and Steven Mullaney sent back to the pavilion in the space of three balls as Arif removed the off-stump of both batsmen. Sussex skipper Mike Yardy’s inspired decision to begin the afternoon session with the gentle medium-pace of Joe Gatting paid off immediately as Bravo played all around an in-swinging delivery and was plumb lbw for 53.Read and Paul Franks put on 41 for the sixth wicket before Franks feathered a defensive edge off Arif through to wicketkeeper Ben Brown, and the tail swiftly subsided. Amjad Khan bowled Graeme White and had Luke Fletcher caught at second slip, while Panesar ended Read’s resistance for 55 with a Brown stumping and then bowled Andre Adams to wrap up the innings.At that stage there were still 38 overs left in the day but when Notts’ in-form opener Alex Hales ended his season in poor fashion, edging a forcing shot off Khan to first slip in the seventh over, the brittle batting line-up was left exposed.Panesar had Bravo caught behind off a defensive edge and fizzed a quicker ball into Wessels’ off-stump two balls later. At that point a three-day victory for Sussex looked a possibility but despite Chris Nash removing Turner lbw for 42 in the next over, deepening cloud cover ended the day’s play on 103 for 4.

Mohsin Khan, Pakistan’s chief selector and interim coach, has said that Umar Akmal needs to “stop being selfish” and learn how to convert starts into substantial innings in Test cricket

ESPNcricinfo staff17-Oct-2011Mohsin Khan, Pakistan’s chief selector and interim coach, has said that Umar Akmal needs to “stop being selfish” and learn how to convert starts into substantial innings in Test cricket. Akmal, a middle-order batsman, was dropped for the Test series against Sri Lanka in the UAE and advised to improve his game by playing domestic cricket.”There is no doubt over his [Akmal’s] potential or talent. But he has not done enough to remain in the team,” Mohsin said. “Basically we have given him a message. ‘Go and play domestic cricket and learn to play big innings. Learn to turn your thirties and forties into hundreds for the team. Stop being selfish.'”Akmal began the 2011-12 domestic season by scoring 95, 20 and 165 for Sui Northern Gas Pipelines Limited in their first two Quaid-e-Azam trophy matches. On the international circuit, however, he had not scored a Test century since his hugely impressive debut in 2009.After poor performances in 2010, when he averaged 24.33, Akmal was left out of the XI for the two Tests in New Zealand. He returned to the side for the Tests in the West Indies, but was dropped from the Test squad against Sri Lanka after scoring only one half-century in 2011, and struggling to play long innings in ODIs as well.”To tell you the truth, I was chief selector when we dropped Umar for the Test series [against Sri Lanka], but even if I had been the coach I would have still dropped him,” Mohsin said. “He would not have found a place in my team.””It is not my team or the PCB’s team. It is Pakistan’s team and those who are selected must justify themselves no matter how good they are.”Mohsin was appointed Pakistan’s interim coach to temporarily fill the vacancy created by Waqar Younis’ resignation after the tour of Zimbabwe. The PCB is in the process of finding a new coach for the national team. Mohsin has also served as chief selector since March 2010.”My aim has always been, like the Australians, to have equally capable players competing for one position in the national team and I think the selectors have succeeded in doing that,” he said. “I always wanted to coach the Pakistan team and for me it is a big challenge to also succeed as coach.”

Martin Crowe’s comeback to club cricket in Auckland at the age of 48 has ended after he was forced to retire hurt three balls into his first innings

ESPNcricinfo staff21-Nov-2011Martin Crowe’s comeback to club cricket in Auckland at the age of 48 has ended after he was forced to retire hurt three balls into his first innings. Crowe pulled a muscle while batting for Cornwall against Parnell on November 19.”While getting off the mark yesterday I pulled a thigh muscle running a normal single into the covers. So three balls into my first premier match back, it’s over,” Crowe wrote in an email to media outlets. “I said from the start it would end in tears with an injury.”I pulled a hip flexor in July, a hamstring in August, a groin in October and now a thigh, all upper left leg, all compensating for a dodgy arthritic right knee. No tears, but frustrated after a lot of hard work getting ready.”Crowe had announced his decision to return to competitive cricket in May, 15 years after his retirement. He had been forced to quit international cricket due to a bad knee. He had said he saw his comeback as a means of self-motivation and a tool to get fit – and also an opportunity to score the 392 runs he needs to tally 20,000 first-class runs.”It was sort of fun along the way,” Crowe said. “I got to hit lots of balls over five months, experiencing the joy of batting again. But as soon as it required the important running bit, the old problems kicked in.”No regrets, although it would’ve been nice to bat at Cornwall Park once more … Instead, Parnell CC will be the last ground I walk out on to thinking `head still, play straight’.”

As predicted the Durban Test was a one-sided affair, except that it was the no-hopers from Sri Lanka who were doing the dominating

The Report by Siddarth Ravindran29-Dec-2011
Scorecard and ball-by-ball details
Rangana Herath ended Sri Lanka’s run of 15 Tests without a victory•AFPAs predicted the Durban Test was a one-sided affair, except that it was the no-hopers from Sri Lanka who were doing the dominating. A year that has gone rapidly downhill for Sri Lanka since their World Cup final appearance in April, including an interminable run of series defeats and a bankrupt board struggling to pay players, ended on the most unexpected of highs as they secured their first Test success in South Africa.A Sri Lanka victory that will rank alongside the path-breaking one at The Oval 15 years ago as the greatest in their history was within reach as South Africa’s batting crumbled after lunch on the fourth day at Kingsmead. The parties in Sri Lanka were delayed by a long stand between AB de Villiers and Dale Steyn, who batted out most of the final session before Rangana Herath struck minutes before close to ease any anxiety building up. The final three wickets went down in four deliveries and a fantastic year for Test cricket ended with the biggest upset of 2011.South Africa’s batting had been solid in the morning, and they would have been satisfied with the start to their attempt at a world-record chase of 450 despite losing the wicket of Graeme Smith. With Hashim Amla in imperious form, South Africa had reached a reasonably comfortable 86 for 1 by lunch, but over the next hour they lost four wickets and even their flimsy hopes of ending their three-Test losing run at Durban evaporated.The collapse began in the first over after the break, when Jacques Rudolph’s resistance ended – and with it perhaps his recently-revived Test career, temporarily at least. As so often in his second coming at the Test level, he was caught in the slip cordon – this time nicking a wide delivery from Thisara Perera.Jacques Kallis has been in patchy form recently, including a duck in the first innings, but his record in the second innings of Tests is unimpeachable. If South Africa were to salvage something from the Test, they needed another Kallis special. Unfortunately for him, there were no match-turning heroics as he top-edged a sweep on to his helmet to give short leg a catch. In his 149th Test, he bagged his first pair.If that blow left South Africa unsteady, they were on the mat soon after as Amla, till then producing a masterclass in off-side strokeplay, was run out after attempting a kamikaze single. He punched the ball straight to mid-on and dashed across for the run though Ashwell Prince showed no interest, and stayed firmly at the non-striker’s end. Prince, with his Test career on the line, then had to face a lifter from Dilhara Fernando, that he could only glove towards slip. With South Africa at 116 for 5, the fans could start partying in Sri Lanka.The Prince dismissal was an almost exact replica of Smith’s earlier in the day. Fernando, used as early as the ninth over this time after his delayed introduction in the first innings, started with his usual no-ball, raising snickers, but there was no laughing later in the over when he got a delivery to leap at Smith. The batsman attempted to ride the bounce, instead of dropping his hands and letting the ball through, and could only glove a catch to slip.Besides Fernando, South Africa’s main worry was the left-arm spin of Herath. On Wednesday, South Africa had been given a glimpse of what was to come when two successive deliveries from Imran Tahir spun and kicked off a length to comfortably beat the batsman and the wicketkeeper. With the ball turning, Herath varied his flight and angle, to relentlessly probe the South African batsmen’s techniques. He was rewarded with the huge wicket of Kallis, and just before tea he added the scalp of Mark Boucher, another man whose place in the side is under scrutiny.AB de Villiers gamely fought on, but there was little he could do to lift South Africa from their hopeless situation. He and Steyn defied the bowling for 34 overs – another reminder to the batting unit that failed twice in this match that the surface wasn’t unplayable.Steyn had been central to South Africa’s promising start to the day as well. In the first innings, he had gone wicketless in a completed innings for the first time since 2008, and he responded second time round with his 17th Test five-for to bring a quick end to the Sri Lankan innings.There was some classic tail-end batting from Sri Lanka in the morning but their resistance lasted only about half an hour. It didn’t matter much, given how far ahead Sri Lanka had already got after the first three days of the Test.The biggest monkey on the back in the game, if measured by column inches, would be Sachin Tendulkar’s 100th international hundred, but the bigger one is Sri Lanka failing to win a Test for nearly a year-and-a-half since the retirement of Muttiah Muralitharan. They have got that off their backs – in style and on a great stage – setting up a tantalising decider in Cape Town.

England women will play a five-match Twenty20 international series against West Indies in September, the ECB has announced

ESPNcricinfo staff30-Jan-2012England women will play a five-match Twenty20 international series against West Indies in September, the ECB has announced. Two of the games, at the Riverside Ground and Old Trafford, will take place before the England men’s team take on South Africa at the same venue in day-night T20s, and will also be televised.The series will act as a prelude to the women’s World Twenty20, which will start 10 days after the fifth match on September 26. England are set to travel to New Zealand next month for a five-match T20 series and three ODI fixtures, and will also play limited-overs games against India in July.”The additional women’s T20 series this summer is a huge bonus for the England women’s team and for women’s cricket,” ECB head of England women’s cricket Clare Connor said. “I’m delighted that international women’s cricket will be showcased alongside the England men’s matches in Durham and Manchester.”Spectators will be treated to an exciting opportunity to experience two sets of double header games before the teams fly out to Sri Lanka a couple of weeks later for the ICC World Twenty20. It’s fantastic once again that two matches will be shown live on Sky Sports for viewers to experience international women’s cricket at its best.”