All posts by h716a5.icu

All overseas cricketers who sign up for a stint in English county cricket will be forced to complete the anti-corruption training

Andrew McGlashan22-Feb-2012All overseas cricketers who sign up for a stint in English county cricket will be required to complete the anti-corruption training that is now mandatory for domestic players in the wake of the prison sentence handed out to the former Essex seam bowler Mervyn Westfield for spot fixing.The Professional Cricketers’ Association (PCA) is working closely with the ECB to ensure that non-English players cannot bypass the corruption course, even if their contract with a county side is a short one.During the sentencing of Westfield at the Old Bailey last week it was alleged that Danish Kaneria, the Pakistan leg spinner, was the go-between in a deal where Westfield was given £6000 to concede a set number of runs off an over during a Pro40 match against Durham in 2009.The PCA is already at an advanced stage in implementing online tutorials for all domestic players that must be completed before the 2012 season begins on April 5.Details of how to ensure 100% compliance with the new regime are still being hammered out with the ECB, but the PCA is insistent that every player in county cricket should take the course.”We want all overseas players to go through this process and we need to decide how much time they have to complete the process,” Angus Porter, the PCA chief executive, said. “We are currently in discussions with the ECB about the mandatory element.”The involvement of all overseas players brings additional challenges. One part of the process that still needs to be developed is to have the course available in multi-lingual formats for players whose first language is not English, one of 11 recommendations made by the MCC’s anti-corruption working party which has sent its full report to the ICC on Wednesday.”The language point is a good one and something we don’t have yet but we are very aware that it is something we need to explore,” Porter said.Despite events of recent weeks, Porter remains adamant that English cricket has the best anti-corruption systems available. “I have to say I think the level of anti-corruption training on offer to our domestic and England players is superior to anything on offer worldwide.”The MCC working party praised the ECB’s decision to create an amnesty for players to report suspicions about corruption and said that other boards should follow their lead. It is an offence for a player not to report an approach but the ECB has given players until April 30 to make concerns known.Following its January meeting in Cape Town the MCC world cricket committee produced ten recommendations for tackling corruption and an eleventh has been included on the final report submitted to the ICC asking for the ECB’s approach to be mirrored worldwide.”National Cricket Boards should follow the example of England and Wales Cricket Board in offering a short-term amnesty to any player or other person involved in cricket who, within the designated period, reports an approach or other suspicions or knowledge of illegal activity of a corrupt kind,” the working party said.Other MCC recommendations made at a meeting of their world cricket committee in Cape Town last month included lifetime bans for any captain, vice-captain or coach found guilty of fixing and the removal of minimal sentences in the ICC’s anti-corruption code to allow disciplinary panels more flexibility in sentencing.Steve Waugh, who chaired the MCC anti-corruption working party, said: “Cricket’s administrators need to be bold in their actions and cannot be complacent in the fight against corruption. I have for some time advocated the idea of amnesties for players or officials so am particularly pleased to see the ECB’s stance on this issue. I now hope that ICC takes on board what our committee – and what players around the world – are saying and we can stamp out corruption in the sport.”Edited by David Hopps

Ireland continued their powerful run in this tournament, cruising past Netherlands with 20 deliveries to spare in the preliminary final

The Report by Gerard Siggins in Dubai23-Mar-2012
Scorecard and ball-by-ball detailsKevin O’Brien’s all-round performance earned him the Man-of-the-Match award•ICC/Ian JacobsIreland continued their powerful run in this tournament, cruising past Netherlands with 20 deliveries to spare in the preliminary final. Ireland will now meet Namibia for the prize of a place in the ICC World Twenty20 in Sri Lanka in September. It was another efficient team performance by Ireland, who have now won their last eight encounters with Netherlands.Just a year ago, Kevin O’Brien was a star of the 50-over World Cup, and he is now coming into form here with both bat and ball. He arrived at this event expecting only to bowl in extremis, but has now taken nine wickets in 14 overs. “Since John Mooney and Alex Cusack have gone home injured I’ve been required more than I expected,” O’Brien said. “I’ve been lucky because this pitch is a bit slower which suited me.”With some early life in the pitch, it was a good toss to win for Ireland, and they again struck early to remove the Netherlands openers. Michael Swart moved back to pull Boyd Rankin and was bowled, while Stephan Myburgh went to a stunning catch by Ireland captain William Porterfield off Trent Johnston. Porterfield ran 20 metres back from behind point and leaned backward to take it close to his chest.Alexei Kervezee and Tom Cooper steadied the Dutch barge, and the period after the Powerplay was their most productive. From 18 for 2 in five overs, the pair took the score to 72 for 2 in 12 when Cooper made a fatal blunder. Facing O’Brien’s first delivery, he spun around to reverse-sweep but missed the ball and was given out leg-before.At that stage a target of 140-plus was on, but the middle order fell away badly. Wesley Barresi pottered around to make 6 off 16 balls, while Kervezee also struggled to accelerate. The Worcestershire player reached his fifty off 42 balls, but his side were still short of three figures with three overs left. A mix-up led to Barresi’s merciful release, but wicketkeeper Gary Wilson was furious that George Dockrell had not thrown the ball to his end where Kervezee was also stranded. The left-arm spinner atoned two balls later by holding a sharp return-catch to dismiss Kervezee for 56.Peter Borren hit only the second four since the ninth over, but Ireland’s stranglehold was never released and a total of 114 for 7 was far below par.The Irish opening batsmen have twice chased totals in this tournament without requiring help from the rest of the order. The way they started suggested that a third ten-wicket win was on the cards, but with the score on 41 off 4.2 overs, Porterfield got under Pieter Seelar’s second ball and was held just inside the rope at long-on. Paul Stirling was dropped next ball by Timm van der Gugten at mid-off.Before the game there was a ceremony to mark Stirling’s 100th cap. It is a measure of how much cricket Ireland now play that the 21-year-old has also missed 41 games since his debut four years ago. He seemed all set to mark the occasion with a fifty, but was trapped in front by Swart, who then induced Wilson to steer the next ball to slip. They were the last two balls of his spell, so there was to be no chance of a hat-trick.They were also the last two wickets his team would take, as Ed Joyce settled in to play a support role with O’Brien hitting six after six to take the Man-of-the-Match award. He hit three maximums in a contribution of 30 to a stand of 42.Porterfield paid tribute to Rankin and Johnston. “The way they kept the Dutch batsmen quiet in the first six overs won us the game,” he said.The Netherlands captain, Borren, put the blame for defeat at the door of his batsmen. “The partnership between Alexei and Tom put us in a position to make 140-145 which we would have been comfortable to defend, but we just didn’t give them enough support. Full credit to Ireland though, they’re a very good cricket team and on today’s performance they deserve to go through.”Edited by Abhishek Purohit

Nottinghamshire beat Worcestershire by 92-runs at Trent Bridge and will have Samit Patel available for their next match

Jon Culley at Trent Bridge08-Apr-2012
ScorecardNottinghamshire expect to have Samit Patel back in their side for their second match of their LV= County Championship season against Durham at Chester-le-Street on Thursday, on a mission to prove he is worthy of keeping his place in the England side as a batsman when the home Test series against West Indies begins on May 17.Patel made his Test debut in the drawn series in Sri Lanka as a spin-bowling all-rounder but Mick Newell, Nottinghamshire’s director of cricket, believes he will have to put himself ahead of rivals Eoin Morgan, Ravi Bopara and Jonny Bairstow as a specialist batsman if he is to remain involved.”The challenge for Samit is to prove to England he can play as a specialist batsman at number six,” Newell said, after watching his county open their campaign with a 92-run victory over relegation favourites Worcestershire at a drizzly Trent Bridge.”He will not play for England in England as a spin bowler; he’s got to play as a batsman.”We have been told that Samit is free to play for us in all cricket as soon as he reports back and I think he has to play in the next five Championship games and score some runs if he is to nail that number six spot. I think the selectors will be watching his progress quite closely.”Nottinghamshire needed only an hour or so to take the last four Worcestershire wickets on the fourth morning, having made significant inroads with the new ball on Saturday evening after a 174-run partnership for the third wicket between Daryl Mitchell (102) and Moeen Ali (94) had given their opponents a chance of successfully chasing down a target of 392 to win.Worcestershire had resumed still needing 134 with only four wickets in hand and lost another to the sixth ball of the opening over when seamer Luke Fletcher, who finished with four wickets in the innings and seven in the match, had Shaaiq Choudhry leg before to one that cut back sharply.They might have capitulated sooner had Nottinghamshire held on to their catches in the slips. James Cameron, who finished unbeaten on 27, was put down on 11 and 26, and Lucas on six, to chances of varying difficulty, although a greasy ball in drizzly rain did not help the fielders.It mattered little. Andre Adams (4 for 90) bowled David Lucas off an inside edge and held a low return catch popped back by Richard Jones and when, with rain falling steadily, Fletcher appealed more in hope than expectation for an lbw against Alan Richardson, umpire Robinson dismissed any notion that the ball might have clipped bat before pad and raised the finger.Given that Nottinghamshire had been bowled out for 118 on the opening day, a victory of any kind would have been taken as a bonus, let alone one by a margin, in the end, that was quite substantial.”Our first innings batting was woeful and we had to bowl very well but from the end of the first innings onwards we put in a pretty good performance,” Newell said.”The first innings was an early warning for everyone. Four of our top six gave their wickets away with sloppy shots, which was unacceptable.”You know what to expect here at this stage of the season but some of the younger lads were perhaps a bit excited after playing on flat wickets in Barbados pre-season. We were much more disciplined in our second innings and we bowled pretty well throughout.”Worcestershire captain Mitchell felt his side had played well in parts of the match but that performance with the new ball was critical.”It is the first week of April and the ball swung and seamed around a lot, particularly on the first day, although it was never a 118 all out pitch or a 130 all out pitch,” he said.”Once a bit of the moisture had come out and you got past 40 overs it was a bit easier. But the new ball was crucial, as we found last night. We bowled well with it first innings, when we swung it big, but I think Richard Jones and Dave Lucas will holds their hands up and say they did not bowl so well in the second.”There were some positive signs, though. Me and Moeen obviously batted well in the second innings and I don’t think it was lost then. If we had scored 180 in the first innings we might have won the game.”But you live and learn. We missed a few opportunities last year and came back strong.”*Nottinghamshire have confirmed they expect to have England off-spinner Graeme Swann available for matches against Lancashire and Middlesex in the Championship next month and fast bowler Stuart Broad against Middlesex, subject to his fitness after a calf injury and his IPL commitments.

Rajasthan Royals’ captain Rahul Dravid has said his bowlers’ clinical performance was instrumental in their win over Pune Warriors on Tuesday

ESPNcricinfo staff09-May-2012Rajasthan Royals’ captain Rahul Dravid has said his bowlers’ clinical performance was instrumental in their win over Pune Warriors on Tuesday.”It was a very clinical performance, and hats off to my bowlers who did a fantastic job to restrict Pune to 125,” Dravid said. “It was a good all-round performance by everyone, especially the bowlers who set the game up for us by making us chase only 125. If we had to chase anything over 150 it would have been a tough game.”Good bowlers are the key, irrespective of whether they are fast or slow, they make a big difference and having a good quality bowling attack is really important. We do have some young bowlers in our side and a lot of our young bowlers have learnt a lot from this competition.”Warriors’ batsmen struggled against the pace of Shaun Tait who picked up three for 13. “We use Tait when we need a wicket, he’s our attack and shock bowler. Tait is our enforcer,” Dravid said. “When he is bowling well it makes a big difference to the team. It’s great to have him and Shane Waston performing well. Johan Botha is another critical member of our side; we also got a good spell out of Stuart Binny today, I though he bowled superbly.”We may make plans but I really believe it’s about execution,” he said. “You can make all the plans you want but at the end of the day you’re only as good as your bowlers who execute them, and I’m really happy that in the last couple of games our bowlers have done that.”Dravid said that Royals, who are currently fourth on the points table, behind Kolkata Knight Riders, Delhi Daredevils and Mumbai Indians, needed to win a majority of their remaining matches to secure a berth in the play-offs. “We have four more games to go and we must focus on playing well,” he said. “If you win well it helps the net run rate but I think we must not worry about net run rate at this stage. With a couple of teams in contention it looks like 18 points will be needed [to make the play-offs] but we must not worry about what is needed but just play good cricket.”Dravid, who retired from international cricket in March this year, said that despite his retirement his routine hasn’t changed. “It has not been very different for me as I just quit international cricket and a couple of weeks later I was playing the IPL,” he said. “It has just been a continuation of my career. It will only be in June that I’ll have more time. For me it hasn’t felt any different at all, whatever I had been doing while playing international cricket, I’ve just continued with the same mindset and routine.”

Martin Guptill and Wes Durston both scored centuries and Chesney Hughes claimed five wickets as Derbyshire crushed the Unicorns

06-May-2012
ScorecardFormer Unicorns right-hander Wes Durston struck an unbeaten century to help Derbyshire to a comfortable 129-run win over his old side. New Zealand opener Martin Guptill joined Durston in reaching three figures as the pair combined in a decisive double-century stand that formed the basis of Derbyshire’s 287 for 3.The Unicorns never came close in pursuit as they managed 158 for 9, with part-time spinner Chesney Hughes bagging a career-best five for 29 on his return to the side.Durston secured a return to county ranks with Derbyshire following an impressive inaugural season with the Unicorns three years ago, but he was short on thanks for them at the picturesque Sir Paul Getty’s Ground in Wormsley. The 31-year-old blasted an unbeaten 120 from 111 balls, which included 11 fours and a six.Guptill was even more punishing as he reached 125 from 102 balls before Glen Querl had him caught by debutant Michael Roberts. That ended the 222-run second-wicket stand that took 31 overs after Hughes was trapped lbw by Warren Lee.The duo dominated the Unicorns attack, most notably former Lancashire paceman Steve Cheetham who, after delivering an early maiden, went for 53 from his next five overs.The Unicorns’ chase got off to a bad start with Tim Groenewald removing openers Michael Thornley and Roberts early. Former Leicestershire wicketkeeper-batsman Tom New and former Warwickshire batsman James Ord then set about repairing the damage in a 46-run stand, but the Unicorns middle-order fell apart as they lost four wickets for 10 runs.It was Hughes’ part-time spin that did the damage as he removed both New and Ord before also snaring skipper Keith Parsons. Hughes went on to complete his five-wicket haul when he claimed Querl and Lee in the same over to cap a resounding win to start Derbyshire’s Group C campaign.

Graham Onions’ chances of playing in the first Test against South Africa were receded further when he was unable to train on Wednesday at the Oval because of a hamstring strain.

ESPNcricinfo staff18-Jul-2012Graham Onions’ chances of playing in the first Test against South Africa were receded further when he was unable to train on Wednesday at The Oval because of a hamstring strain.Onions, the Durham fast bowler, is in England’s 13-man squad as an extra pace bowler and after playing in the third Test against West Indies at Edgbaston had hoped to beat Tim Bresnan and Steven Finn for a place against South Africa. But he was not involved in Wednesday morning’s net practice.He has not yet been ruled out of contention to play when the first of a three-Test series starts on Thursday but the injury has not done his prospects any good. Even if fully fit, Onions faced stiff competition to fill a third seamer role, with Bresnan and Finn the leading candidates for the position.Onions has taken 32 wickets at 29.90 in nine Tests for England – including 10 wickets as England regained the Ashes in 2009. But he suffered a career-threatening back injury and was ruled out of the 2010 season, only returning to Test action as James Anderson and Stuart Broad were rested for the Edgbaston Test this summer, where he returned 4 for 88.

Hampshire went to the top of Clydesdale Bank 40 Group B after Neil McKenzie produced a brilliant innings in their 107-run win over the Welsh Dragons

10-Aug-2012
ScorecardHampshire went to the top of Clydesdale Bank 40 Group B after Neil McKenzie produced a brilliant innings in their 107-run win over the Welsh Dragons in Cardiff.McKenzie’s 88 from 89 balls helped Hampshire, who lost the toss, towards 226 all out, and in reply Chris Wood recorded career-best figures of five wickets for 22 runs and Danny Briggs took 4 for 32 as Glamorgan were completely outclassed. The hosts were dismissed with 7.1 overs remaining, ending their realistic hopes of reaching the semi-finals.Hampshire had reached 27 for 0 in four overs but were pegged back by Glamorgan with the wickets of Jimmy Adams and Simon Katich. James Vince looked certain to go to his 50 but was run out by wicketkeeper Mark Wallace two runs short of the target, a dismissal which was initially given as stumped. It left the visitors 78 for 3 in the 14th over.The exit of Vince and some good bowling especially from Jim Allenby slowed the run rate as Hampshire reached the halfway stage at 102 for 3. That became 108 for 4 in the next over when Sean Ervine was brilliantly stumped by Wallace, and 109 for five when Allenby trapped Liam Dawson leg before wicket.Allenby, who finished with 1 for 21, had an assist when Michael Bates was run out in a mix-up with McKenzie attempting a third run. South African McKenzie reached his half-century from 59 balls, out of 132 for 6 and, although Hamza Riazuddin holed out to mid-on, Chris Wood helped McKenzie to take 15 off an over from John Glover.Wood was well caught by Marcus North one-handed at midwicket but Danny Briggs struck Graham Wagg for two sixes in between losing McKenzie, who holed out off the expensive Simon Jones seven balls from the end of the innings.The Dragons were not helped by being penalised six runs for not bowling their overs in the time allotted and they were soon on the back foot in their reply, reduced to 21 for 3 in six overs by Wood. Wallace was caught mistiming a pull, Chris Cooke was well caught at short midwicket and Gareth Rees was bowled.Allenby and North did their best to get the hosts back on course but David Griffiths had North caught behind attempting to drive. It did not get better for the home side as Allenby was well caught by Vince on the long-on boundary off Briggs, leaving them 58 for 5 in the 18th over.Wagg and Stewart Walters took the batting Powerplay with Glamorgan needing 135 off the final 14 overs, before Briggs bowled Wagg, Ben Wright and Glover. And Wood returned to bowl Cosker and Jones with consecutive balls as Glamorgan subsided.

Andrew Strauss has announced his retirement from professional cricket, ending a 10-year career at international level for the last three of which he was England’s Test captain

Andrew McGlashan29-Aug-2012Andrew Strauss has announced his retirement from professional cricket, ending a 10-year career at international level, the last three of which he was England’s Test captain. Alastair Cook, the one-day captain, will take on the Test job.His decision comes after a week of soul-searching during a family break following the 2-0 loss against South Africa which meant England lost the No. 1 Test ranking and also comes at a time when Kevin Pietersen’s exile from the team has dominated the agenda.Strauss played down the significance of the current Pietersen situation in his decision saying it “was not a factor at all” and retiring was on his mind before the series against South Africa started. He did, though, admit that his lack of runs had played a major part.Strauss’ decision ends a career that began in 1997, an international career that started in 2003 and captaincy reign that began early in 2009 in the wake of the Pietersen-Peter Moores fall out.”After much thought over the last few weeks, I have decided to step down as England Test captain and announce my retirement from all forms of cricket,” Strauss said. “It has clearly been a tough decision to make, but I believe that it is both in the best interests of the England cricket team and myself to step down at this stage.”There are too many people who have helped me on this incredible journey to mention them all by name, but I would like to thank all the Middlesex and England players I have played alongside, as well as the phenomenal coaches and support staff with whom I have been fortunate enough to work.”Particular mention has to go to Andy Flower and Duncan Fletcher in that regard. It would also be remiss of me not to thank Middlesex, the ECB and the PCA for their support and guidance over the years.”No one can play international cricket for any length of time without having an incredibly strong support network around them, and I would like to take this opportunity to thank my family for going through it all alongside me over the course of my England career.”I am extremely proud of everything I have achieved as a cricketer, and I have found myself very fortunate to play in an era when some of English cricket’s greatest moments have occurred. I have loved every minute of it. All that remains is for me to wish Andy, Alastair and the rest of the team the very best for the coming months. I will be an interested spectator.”Strauss, 35, played his 100th Test at Lord’s against South Africa and after the loss he said he still had “a lot of desire” but did not categorically declare his intention to continue leading the side. Strauss said at the time he was keen to take a break and then discuss the future with the coach Andy Flower.ESPNcricinfo were the first to suggest immediately after the Test that perhaps Strauss was considering resignation.The South African series was a difficult one for Strauss, who not only had to deal with the ongoing Pietersen saga but also his own struggle for runs – his best score during the three Tests was 37. Cook, who took on the ODI captaincy last year, will now step into the Test role and will start with the tour of India later this year.Cook said: “Andrew’s contribution to England cricket in recent years is evident to everyone who follows the sport but only those of us who have been lucky enough to share a dressing room with him are fully aware of his immense contribution to our success.”He has been a fantastic captain, has led from the front for three and a half years and is a true ambassador for the game. To have played 100 Tests for your country is a phenomenal achievement and I want to congratulate him on a superb career. I know this can’t have been an easy decision for him and everyone in the dressing room will be sad to see him go.”I’m very excited by this new challenge, it is a huge honour to be appointed Test captain and am very much looking forward to captaining the side in India this winter and beyond, but my immediate focus is on this current NatWest one-day series. Once the series is over I will turn my attention to the Test captaincy and building on the work Andrew has started.”David Collier, the ECB chief executive, said: “On behalf of the ECB and everyone involved in cricket I’d like to thank Andrew Strauss for his outstanding contribution to the game.”Andrew has been a highly successful captain and opening batsman for Middlesex and England, who will be remembered for leading the side to two Ashes victories and to the top of the Test rankings. He has shown tremendous integrity, dedication and commitment both on and off the field and under his leadership the side has grown immeasurably and reached new levels of professionalism.”Andrew’s calmness and authority when dealing with some of the most difficult moments in our sport in recent times should be applauded and I have no doubt that his contribution as an ambassador for the game will be recognised by anyone who has had an opportunity to spend time with him. His legacy within the game will be felt for many years to come and we now need to continue to build on the progress we have made under his leadership.”Strauss made his debut for England in 2004, scoring a century against New Zealand at Lord’s in a performance that was enough to push former captain Nasser Hussain into retirement, and his most recent Test against South Africa was his 100th Test. When talking recently to mark the occasion he spoke about his desire to continue but events of recent weeks, including the controversy surrounding Pietersen, appear to have changed his mind.As captain, Strauss led England to new heights, including back-to-back Ashes triumphs in 2009 and 2010-11 plus the No.1 Test ranking which they held for a year before losing the series against South Africa. That was the first home Test series England had lost under Strauss’ leadership and just the third of his entire stint.However, the runs had largely dried up for Strauss in recent years. The two hundreds he scored against West Indies earlier this season hinted that he could recapture some of his best form but reality hit home against South Africa when he scored 107 runs in six innings. Having started his time as captain with three hundreds against West Indies in 2009 he managed just four more. He will finish with 21 Test centuries, one behind the England record held by Geoff Boycott, Colin Cowdrey and Wally Hammond.In his 100 Tests Strauss has scored 7037 runs at 40.91 and in the 50 Tests he captained (which included four before being appointed fulltime captian, against Pakistan in 2006) he won 24 of them.Strauss is the third England captain to resign either during or after a series against a South Africa side led by Graeme Smith. Hussain stood down early in the 2003 series and Michael Vaughan ended his time as captain after South Africa won the 2008 series with victory at Edgbaston.

The Asian Cricket Council (ACC) has decided to nominate Afghanistan, which currently holds Affiliate status, for Associate membership with the ICC

Umar Farooq26-Sep-2012The Asian Cricket Council (ACC) has decided to nominate Afghanistan, which currently holds Affiliate status, for Associate membership with the ICC. The ACC also confirmed that it had received and will work on applications from Tajikistan, Chinese Taipei and Cambodia regarding affiliation with the Asian and global governing bodies.The ACC development committee, headed by PCB chairman Zaka Ashraf, had met in Islamabad on Monday to confer on various agendas for the calendar year 2013. The committee also approved a budget of US$6.1m for the development of the 18 non-Test playing Asian nations, and decided that the four Asian Test nations will continue to aid the development of the others by inviting them to their national academies.”Perhaps our most significant decision [taken at the meeting] has been to substantiate the claim of Afghanistan to be an Associate member of the ICC,” ACC chief executive, Ashraf-ul-Haq said in Lahore on Tuesday. “Afghanistan has been the strongest side among the Affiliate members, so we are backing them for the promotion.”The ACC has already informed the ICC of their support for Afghanistan, but the request will be looked into only in June 2013, at the ICC’s annual conference. “The applications are in order and we are hoping that at the next ICC annual meeting Afghanistan will be given the status they deserve,” Haq said.The Afghanistan Cricket Board had sanctioned an organisational review earlier this year, in a bid to provide better leadership and find qualified staff to run cricket administration in the war-torn country in the long run, and help develop their domestic cricket infrastructure, thus working towards the outstanding playing-standards criteria required for promotion. On the field, the team has continued to impress, finishing second only to Ireland to qualify – for the second eition running – for the ongoing World Twenty20, where they stretched India in a group-stage match. Vanuatu was the last country elevated to Associate membership of the ICC in 2009.Haq said that while several Asian countries were keen on ACC membership, they would only be processing the applications of Tajikistan, Chinese Taipei and Cambodia. The development of Oman, he said, is high on the agenda.”We want cricket to be played everywhere,” he said. “We [the ACC] are here for the minnows, and are working to promote them. While Afghanistan have reached such heights, Oman will be next in line, as they have got all the facilities there.”I am also impressed with the development work in China and I’m hoping in the next ten years they will start playing a high level of cricket. I am not sure if they will be a Test nation by then, but surely they are somewhere near playing top-level cricket. Apart from the cricketing aspect, Chiana is a power-house of commercial values – if they come up, the value [of the game] would have climbed by 30 to 40%.”China had showed interest in staging the 2012 Asia Cup in Guangzhou, the venue that hosted the first-ever Asian Games cricket tournament in November, though it was Bangladesh who eventually hosted the event earlier this year. According to Haq, China is a potential venue for cricket, but holding the men’s Asia Cup there is not possible due to the lack of floodlights in the stadium.

South Africa’s A side to play New Zealand next Tuesday has been stuffed with three wicketkeepers to keep options open for a long-term replacement for Mark Boucher. Justin Ontong will captain the side

Firdose Moonda13-Dec-2012South Africa have stuffed their A side with three wicketkeepers for their Twenty20 practice match against New Zealand next Tuesday. The front-runner is Cobras’ Dane Vilas, who was part of South Africa’s unofficial T20 squad that toured Zimbabwe in June. Also in the mix is Davy Jacobs of the Warriors and Mangaliso Mosehle of the Titans.Jacobs returned to professional cricket after an absence of a season due to a severe hip injury. He has had a successful comeback and has already scored two centuries in the first-class competition, where he lies second on the run charts, and two half-centuries in the one-day cup besides wicketkeeping.Heino Kuhn has kept wicket ahead of Mosehle at the Titans, but Mosehle did the job at the under-19 World Cup in 2008. His century and two half-centuries in the one-day cup have got him noticed by the national selectors.With Mark Boucher having retired earlier this year, South Africa are trying many of their options for a long-term replacement over the course of the summer. Quinton de Kock will play in the T20 squad with the three in the A squad bubbling under.There are also some familiar faces making a return. Left-arm spinner Roelof van der Merwe is back into the frame as well as middle-order batsman Vaughn van Jaarsveld who has enjoyed good form in the one-day cup.Dolphins’ quicks Kyle Abbott and Craig Alexander join Lions’ fast man Hardus Viljoen in the pace attack. The allrounders’ role has been handed to David Wiese, who put in a sterling performance in the CLT20 semi-final. The only player who is also part of South Africa’s T20 squad is Aaron Phangiso, the left-arm spinner who earned his maiden national call-up earlier today. The side will be captained by Justin Ontong.South Africa A squad: Justin Ontong (capt), Kyle Abbott, Craig Alexander, Davy Jacobs, Mangaliso Mosehle, Aaron Phangiso, Roelof van der Merwe, Vaughn van Jaarsveld, Stiaan van Zyl, Dane Vilas, Hardus Viljoen, David Wiese