All posts by n8rngtd.top

Notts slump after Jeetan Patel's counter

by n8rngtd.top Uncategorized

Nottinghamshire lost three wickets in five overs before the close after half-centuries from Varun Chopra and Jeetan Patel had provided the backbone of Warwickshire’s 298

Les Smith at Trent Bridge03-Sep-2013
ScorecardVarun Chopra led Warwickshire with 76•PA Photos

There was an audible sigh in the voice of the Trent Bridge PA announcer when he delivered Michael Lumb’s mode of dismissal and score just before close of play. Nottinghamshire had lost three wickets in the first four overs of their innings and Warwickshire were firmly in control. Notts have not yet secured Division One survival and there was an air of weary resignation among their supporters in the New Stand.A flourish with the bat late in the day by New Zealand international Jeetan Patel, batting at No. 9, had put Warwickshire in a position to press their advantage. Patel has 276 Test match runs – not that many but scored at the highest level. His highest Championship score this year is 78 not out, made in his previous match, and there was nothing about the way he went about his business here to suggest he wouldn’t have surpassed that had he not run out of partners when was on 66.Patel was the senior partner in the day’s key partnership. When he was joined by 18-year-old wicketkeeper Peter McKay, playing only his second first-class match, Warwickshire were on 192 for 8 and it seemed they might be fortunate to reach 200. As it was, the pair put on 88, the biggest partnership of the innings. McKay made 33, 16 of them batting with a runner after he sustained a leg injury that prevented him from keeping wicket at the end of the day. Patel finished with 66 off just 76 balls, with nine boundaries.Warwickshire’s other significant stand featured Varun Chopra and Laurie Evans, who put on 73 for the fourth wicket. Chopra looked in complete control from the moment he faced the first ball of the match until he swished at a wide ball from Luke Fletcher and gave wicketkeeper Chris Read the first of two brilliant diving catches in successive overs. It was Evans who went next, off the bowling of Andre Adams.

Notts players in early IPL talks

Alex Hales and Michael Lumb will have a meeting with Nottinghamshire’s director of cricket, Mick Newell, at the end of the month to discuss whether they can appear in the IPL next year, .
Newell prevented any of his players from missing county duty this year but, with Hales currently rated the No. 1 T20 batsmen in the ICC’s ranking system and Lumb, 33-years-old and aware that such opportunities may not come too frequently in the future, Newell will be under pressure to rethink that stance.
The issue of IPL availability may also be important as Jos Buttler decides which county he will be with next year.

Darren Maddy scored 47 valuable runs in the middle order and also contributed to the day’s moment of hilarity. Chris Woakes turned Ajmal Shahzad behind square on the leg side and Read ran round from behind the stumps to field. Woakes was so surprised when Maddy called for a quick single that he slipped, fell flat on his face, and dropped his bat. He scrambled to his feet and scampered batless, more in hope than expectation, towards the bowler’s end. He was run out by a distance.The mainstays of the Nottinghamshire bowling were Fletcher, now Nottinghamshire’s leading Championship wicket-taker, and Adams. Fletcher nagged on a good length and occasionally shook batsmen up with a fast short ball. Former New Zealand seamer Adams, now 38, delivered his brisk medium pace off an economical run and found movement in the air and off the seam. Both took four wickets.Nottinghamshire’s cause was not helped by some slack work in the field after lunch. Read had an almost unblemished day, taking four catches, but he was one of two players to miss tricky but catchable chances, the other being Lumb who couldn’t hold on to a Keith Barker shot in the gully.When the Nottinghamshire innings began there were five overs left in the day. In the first Alex Hales played no shot to a Barker inswinger and lost his off stump. In the second, nightwatchman Fletcher was too late on a quick Maurice Chambers delivery and lost his middle stump and then when Lumb edged Chambers to second slip the PA man wasn’t able to conceal his dismay.

Mosharraf cut from preliminary squad

by n8rngtd.top Uncategorized

The Bangladesh selectors have trimmed the 30-member preliminary squad for the upcoming series against New Zealand by two on Thursday.

Mohammad Isam26-Sep-2013The Bangladesh selectors have trimmed the 30-member preliminary squad for the upcoming series against New Zealand by two on Thursday. There are, however, several changes from the the previously announced squad, with left-arm spinner Mosharraf Hossain dropped due to allegations of fixing against him.Mosharraf is serving provisional suspension, which began on August 13, as one of the nine accused of being involved in alleged corruption in this year’s BPL. The seven others who were also not included are Shahriar Nafees, Shahadat Hossain, Junaid Siddique, Imrul Kayes, Raqibul Hasan, Saqlain Sajib and Nazmul Hossain Milon.They have been replaced by Al-Amin Hossain, Enamul Hoque jr, Souyma Sarker, Sabbir Rahman, Mukhtar Ali and Noor Hossain.BCB have also announced a 14-member squad to take on the visiting New Zealanders in a three-day practice match at MA Aziz Stadium in Chittagong. Four uncapped players – Marshall Ayub, Soumya Sarkar, Mukhtar Ali and Noor Hossain – have been included in the side. Legspinner Hossain is the only specialist slow bowler in the side.Bangladesh preliminary squad: Mushfiqur Rahim, Mahmudullah, Anamul Haque, Tamim Iqbal, Shakib Al Hasan, Nasir Hossain, Mohammad Elias, Ziaur Rahman, Mashrafe Mortaza, Jahurul Islam, Shafiul Islam, Abdur Razzak, Naeem Islam, Sohag Gazi, Rubel Hossain, Mominul Hoque, Shamsur Rahman, Marshall Ayub, Robiul Islam, Farhad Reza, Mehrab Hossain, Sajedul Islam, Al-Amin Hossain, Enamul Hoque jr, Souyma Sarkar, Sabbir Rahman, Mukhtar Ali, Noor Hossain.BCB XI: Mahmudullah, Anamul Haque, Ziaur Rahman, Jahurul Islam, Naeem Islam, Mominul Haque, Shamsur Rahman, Marshall Ayub, Farhad Reza, Mehrab Hossain jr, Sajidul Islam, Soumya Sarkar, Mukhtar Ali, Noor Hossain.

Cosgrove makes hundred as Leicestershire begin well

by n8rngtd.top Uncategorized

Leicestershire skipper Mark Cosgrove hit his first century of the summer to help the visitors recover from a sticky start during a rain-affected opening day against Kent in Canterbury.

Press Association03-May-2015
ScorecardMark Cosgrove, seen here in Sheffield Shield action, scored a century on day one•Getty Images

Leicestershire skipper Mark Cosgrove hit his first century of the summer to help the visitors recover from a sticky start during a rain-affected opening day against Kent in Canterbury.Early showers delayed the start of Kent’s first home game of the campaign until 2pm, with the loss of 29 overs. Rob Key’s decision to field first paid immediate dividends when Matt Coles struck with his second ball of the match to remove Angus Robson. Fishing in defence outside off stump, Robson nicked to third slip where Sam Northeast pouched a comfortable catch. Coles struck again six overs later to make it 31 for 2 by trapping Matt Boyce, for 17, leg before as he pushed defensively from the crease.Leicestershire ably regrouped with their captain leading from the front. The Australian left-hander – who is England qualified through residency – featured in a third-wicket stand worth 118 in 29.1 overs in tandem with Ned Eckersley. The pair both reached half-centuries and took full toll of some wayward and wasteful Kent bowling, Eckersley sailing effortlessly from 12 through to a 74-ball 50.Cosgrove, who might have gone for 48 had Coles held on to a regulation slip chance off the bowling of Darren Stevens, went to his 50 from only 66 balls and with seven balls to ease his side comfortably in at tea on 141 for 2. The partnership ended soon after the restart when Coles swapped to the Pavilion End to trap Eckersley leg before for 67 with a full-length offcutter.Cosgrove ploughed on thereafter, reaching three figures from 121 balls, with 11 fours and a straight six back over the head of Stevens the bowler. Former Worcestershire batsman Neil Pinner piled on the agony for Kent, the basement side in Division Two, by scoring Leicestershire’s third 50 of the afternoon from 61 deliveries.Pinner also helped post a century stand with Cosgrove but their stand partnership ended at 115 when Cosgrove danced down the pitch and wastefully lofted a catch to substitute fielder Matt Hunn, stationed on the ropes at long-off.Cosgrove sidled off with 113 to his name, scored in a shade over three hours, leaving Pinner and first-class debutant Lewis Hill, standing in for Ireland’s wicketkeeper Niall O’Brien, to try and bat out the final 13 overs of the day.Coles returned for a fourth spell to claim a fourth scalp when Pinner sparred outside off stump at a lifting delivery to edge through to his Kent counterpart Sam Billings for 68. Coles, who rejoined Kent in March after his release by Hampshire, finished the day with 4 for 68.Coles, who dipped his weary frame into an ice bath before facing the media afterwards, said: “It wasn’t the best day at the office for our boys today. We needed to attack the top of off stump far more and just didn’t hit the right areas during the course of the day. We need to collect our thoughts overnight and come back tomorrow and finish the job with as little damage as possible in terms of runs conceded.”Pinner, one of three Leicestershire batsmen to pass 50, admitted the visitors would also have bowled given the opportunity: “We would have bowled first too because we felt if this pitch was going to do anything it would be early on with the new ball. As it turned out we’ve come out of the day pretty well.”Coles ran in hard at us and got a couple to bounce, so we’re hoping our seamers can do the same on day two.””Mark batted with great intent throughout the day, as he normally does when he gets in. He put his boundaries away, really put the pressure on their bowlers and took the pressure off me. I could stand, watch and enjoy it because there was no pressure on me to score quickly once I did get the strike.”

Roy marks himself out as man for the Bayliss age

by n8rngtd.top Uncategorized

A number of batsmen mark themselves out as suitable for this new England age under Trevor Bayliss. Jason Roy is foremost amongst them

Tim Wigmore at The Oval01-Jun-2015
ScorecardJason Roy gets a hug for his century•Getty Images

One of the reasons for Trevor Bayliss’s appointment as England coach is his track record in limited overs cricket. The hope is that, after 23 years of largely anaemic ODI cricket, England can discover a dynamism and effervescence befitting the T20 age. The first ODI squad of the Bayliss era will be announced at the conclusion of the Headingley Test. While Bayliss will only take charge once New Zealand leave England, he has already let it be known that he would like a limited overs squad brimming with youthful vitality, unencumbered by World Cup failures.A number of batsmen mark themselves out as suitable for this new age. Jason Roy is foremost amongst them. His rare talent has long been recognised at The Oval. One of the most intoxicating aspects of sport is the sense of a glorious talent being fulfilled. It is becoming ever more tangible with every Roy innings.This was, by his own estimation, Roy’s finest innings in first-class cricket yet. While he is not a batsman whose impact is easily measured by numbers, it was his highest score to boot, surpassing his previous best set a fortnight ago at Northampton. Arriving at 74 for 4, Roy departed having made 143 of the 236 added with Steven Davies.The assault on Simon Kerrigan’s left-arm spin was particularly spectacular. Attacking him with all the ferocity of Shane Watson in Kerrigan’s last appearance at The Oval in the 2013 Ashes Test – or indeed Kevin Pietersen at Guildford in 2012 – Roy needed just nine balls to progress from 77 to his century. Twice he took a step down the wicket and lofted Kerrigan for straight sixes. He then showed off his range of shots by scything Kerrigan through point for four to reach his century, celebrating with a punch of the air before the ball had even gone over the boundary.Still, there was more to come. As Roy’s assault on all bowlers intensified – his ferocious, gun-barrel straight hitting was a particular hallmark – he surpassed 100 runs in the morning session. It was the first time that a Surrey batsman had added a century before lunch since Ian Greig against the same opponents 25 years ago. In the circumstances it felt churlish to complain when Roy lashed Kyle Jarvis straight to backward point just after the second new ball had been taken.Rather like Virender Sehwag, Roy’s first-class batting is imbued with self-belief and a refusal to over-complicate. “When I’m batting I’ve got no real plan of what I want to do, I just bat,” Roy said, a philosophy rather reminiscent of Sehwag’s, who once said: “If the ball is there to be hit, you just hit it. Don’t worry that this is a Test or one-dayer or T20. You just hit it.”But, for all Roy’s effervescence at the crease, there was much else to enjoy in Surrey’s batting performance before a combination of bad light and forecast rain forced an early truncation to the day’s play. Steven Davies showed maturity in not attempting to keep up with Roy in the morning – he added 16 runs to his overnight score in the time that it took Roy to add 87. Such was his serenity at the crease that it was a matter of considerable surprise when he nicked Tom Bailey to slip 14 shy of his third Championship hundred of the season.No matter. With Davies no longer keeping, a decision fully vindicated by 633 runs at 90.42 apiece, and Gary Wilson on Ireland duty, Ben Foakes excelled on his Championship debut for Surrey.In recent years the spectre of former Essex players – Varun Chopra, Tony Palladino, Adam Wheater and Chris Wright – excelling away from Chelmsford has become a familiar one. The departure of Foakes, unable to get wicketkeeping opportunities in lieu of James Foster, was a particular source of regret to Essex.Compact, well organised, strong on the drive and with a flourishing pull, Foakes’s unbeaten 60 contained enough to suggest that he will be a regular source of runs at The Oval for the next decade: he is just 22. Undemonstrative and calm at the crease, Foakes added 78 with Gareth Batty to secure full batting points before a truncated end to the day. Rain and gloom might well defeat Surrey in this game, but they could not override the sense of excitement at what their middle order can produce for the rest of 2015 and beyond.

Rayudu ton gives India last-ball thriller

by n8rngtd.top Uncategorized

Ambati Rayudu and Stuart Binny added 160 runs together – the highest sixth-wicket stand for India in ODIs – in a last-ball four-run win

The Report by Alagappan Muthu10-Jul-2015
Scorecard and ball-by-ball detailsFifty off thirty balls. Tense. Elton Chigumbura defuses the pressure with a rasping cut. Forty-five off 24. He winds up and lashes a full toss to the cover boundary. Harare had been jiving with their captain. Song and dance galore. Thirty-two off 18. He tonks a four through long-on and Zimbabwe believed. They beamed with their captain as he collected a second successive ODI century. As it is with low-scorers – the target Zimbabwe were chasing was only 256 – nerves of both team’s were put through a shredder.India though weren’t quite so accommodating. Amid the many harried discussions, they made sure the best yorker bowler had the final over. Bhuvneshwar Kumar hit the mark enough to sever Zimbabwe’s feel-good vibes. The home crowd can’t be too cheery when their team needs six off one ball. And he nailed one last yorker to help his team break out of jail, and India’s own centurion Ambati Rayudu sigh in relief as well.Zimbabwe’s best chance would have been if one of their seniors shepherded the innings. Two of them were undone by beautiful left-arm spin bowling from Axar Patel. Hamilton Masakadza surprised by extra bounce and popped a catch to point. Sean Williams was lured forward only for the ball to dip and sneak through the gate.To compound that, Sikandar Raza launched a Harbhajan Singh long-hop – can happen when you’re coming back to ODIs after four years – down to Axar again at deep midwicket. Zimbabwe were 142 for 5. Zimbabwe needed something special. They got Chigumbura and they were roaring approval with every bottom-handed bludgeon.Chigumbura’s hits met the fence nine times and he was one of only three batsmen in the match to have a strike rate over 100. Beyond that, he strung vital partnerships through the middle order – 42 with Masakadza, 48 with Raza and a calculated 86 with No. 8 Graeme Cremer to keep the hosts’ threat alive. At one point, a young ball boy raced to the edge of the boundary and gleefully welcomed the ball towards him. All was going well, until the final hurdle, when Zimbabwe stumbled.”I think we’re the envy of a few to be honest,” coach Dav Whatmore had said with respect to their bench strength. That assessment is merited when it comes to their batting – since the start of the year, their batsmen have posted totals excess of 270 six out of eight completed matches. The downside though is one solitary win.The reason for that is their bowling. A motley crew of medium-pacers were excellent when the ball was new and early morning conditions offered some assistance. They had half of India’s line-up back in the pavilion by the time half the innings was done. Chigumbura barely had any work to do in the first 30-odd overs. The ball was put on a good length, outside off and allowed to do its bit. But once the slog overs came, their radar suffered a bad blip and the finishing blow never came. Good length balls outside off stump don’t work when the only swing on offer is from the bat looking for deep midwicket.Rayudu, to his credit, waited and waited waited for those shortcomings. He might not be the most water-tight No. 3 around, but throughout the innings he showed he was capable of smart cricket. Overpitched deliveries fed his drives, and he peppered a wide arc from cover to long-on. But when that length wasn’t there, he was quite judicious at not letting his bat travel too far from his body. A general rule for anyone who is sucked into the middle by the fourth over.Zimbabwe, having decided to field, continued to rack up a lot of dot-ball pressure. There were 160 of them overall with the Harare pitch being as stingy as the local bowlers. But through it all Rayudu held on. He was 25 off 50, learning that when he targeted the easy escape to third man the sideways movement bested him. He pushed to 50 off 72, realising that his technique was in better order having spent time at the crease. He ended up with his second ODI century and his longest innings in international cricket.Stuart Binny hadn’t been the most solid either. But it may have helped that Binny played legspinner Cremer the most at the time he was building his innings – 25 runs off 31 balls. By then the innings had surreptitiously reached the tipping point that every Zimbabwe supporter fears: the final few overs. And Binny opened his shoulders. He trod past his fifty off the 63rd ball in the 45th over, cracked three fours and a six to finish with 77 off 76. And India finished with 51 in the last five overs.Until their partnership – 160 off 147 balls, the highest sixth-wicket stand for India in ODIs – it had been old-fashioned cricket. Cautious batsmen and line bowling. M Vijay, playing his first ODI in two years, fished outside off stump and was caught in the slips – a fielding position Zimbabwe used quite late into the game much to Ajinkya Rahane’s chagrin. In the 18th over, the new India captain gave catching practice to Masakadza at first slip and was left contemplating another start not capitalised: 34 off 49.Then Manoj Tiwary was caught plumb in front, Robin Uthappa made a poor call to be run out for a duck and Kedhar Jadhav feathered an edge to the keeper for 5. Four of the top six falling for single-figures at a time when India are looking for new batsmen. But at least the new ODI playing conditions were ushered in with a game that went down to the last ball.

Devine concerned by NZ's batting failures

by n8rngtd.top Uncategorized

New Zealand women’s vice-captain Sophie Devine has said that losing too many wickets “in clumps” was a problem that has been bothering the team for a year

Vishal Dikshit in Bangalore01-Jul-2015The New Zealand women bowlers have adapted extremely well in the first two ODIs to conditions completely foreign to them. They bowled India out for 142 in the first match, and for 163 in the second, but the visitors’ batting still remains a worry. After falling 17 runs short on Sunday, New Zealand managed to chase 164 with just three wickets in hand. Allrounder and vice-captain Sophie Devine, who top-scored with 33 today, said that losing too many wickets “in clumps” was a problem that has been bothering them for a year.

India’s top-scorer Thirush Kamini on

Only one batsman performing in both matches: I think it’s important that the top order has to click. Last game Jhulu (Goswami) di performed for us and today I should have carried on throughout because that’s important – as a top-order batter you should be able to finish the innings through once you’ve got a good start. Unfortunately me getting out it rattled the whole scenario.
India getting all out frequently: It’s important for the top order to click because when you talk about getting all out, it’s mainly the batsmen’s responsibility to carry the innings through. One or two batsmen in the top order have to click and make sure we don’t open up the lower order a little earlier.
India batsmen not rotating strike enough: That’s one of the important aspects we need to work on because in the middle overs they did really well in rotating the strike which we didn’t really apply enough. So probably those are the areas we need to look up for the forthcoming games.
Batsmen’s performance so far: It’s important for us to get a a good comeback and we need to bat a little better and get some runs on the board, giving something to the bowlers to bowl at.

“I think it’s actually been an issue for us the last 12 months – losing wickets in clumps, not losing one wicket but two or three at a time which puts a lot of pressure on the players,” Devine said. “We find a lot of players go back into their shells. We want to fall back on our brand of cricket of being confident whether we are one down or nine down and that we are still going to go out and play our same way. So there’s plenty to learn from today and we’re really happy that we got the win. It wasn’t the smoothest chase but we got over the line today.”In the last 12 months, New Zealand have played 11 ODIs with only three results in their favour, including today’s game. Batting first, they have made142, 69, 240 for 8, 168 and 230 for 8, successfully defending only one of those scores. Batting second, they have been bowled out four out of six times (thrice under 200), winning only twice, with scores of: 181, 210, 104, 219 for 1, 125 and 164 for 7. In other words, they have successfully chased a target of over 200 only once in the last year.Devine acknowledged New Zealand have been losing too many wickets, but confidently said it’s something they are aware of and can improve on with a batting line-up that runs deep.”In an ideal world we would have been 2-0 up chasing that sort of total (in the first ODI) but the really positive thing about our team is that every one bats right down to No. 11. Morna Nielsen at No. 11 has actually opened for her state cricket so everyone can bat and we’ve got full confidence in the team, right down to the No. 11 that they can come out and bat.”We were really disappointed with the way the first game went. Obviously in first half of the game our bowling was fantastic and if you’d said to us at the start of the day that we were going to bowl India out for 140, we’d take it ten times out of ten. It’s obviously the batting that required focus and today our players went out with more intent to score. Obviously conditions are different to what we face in New Zealand but it’s all about intent and coming out hard and making sure we play our own game and don’t get boxed up into playing within our shells.”Batting with intent is something captain Suzie Bates spoke about too before the series started, and Devine emphasised that they believed in playing an “aggressive” brand of cricket.”I think we spoke about this even before we came on this tour that we want to play a style of cricket that’s aggressive,” Devine said. “If you look at the BlackCaps, how they’ve played at the World Cup – we don’t want to copy them we want to play our own style – that’s a very New Zealand way of doing things. So we’ve got the players that come out hard in the first 10 overs and take it to the team and that’s what happened today. Suzie went out early, she went out in fashion that was attacking for her.”As Devine set up the chase along with Katie Perkins in a partnership of 49, and took them only 35 runs astray from the target, she admitted that she got off to starts in both ODIs, but did not apply herself enough with wickets falling around her – something she has been working on.”I feel like I have been getting starts but it’s not kicking on and I think that probably comes down to a little bit of the situation in the game as well,” she said. “I felt myself and Katie Perkins had a really good partnership and it is important to build partnerships with whoever else comes in.”I’ve got to take something away from today’s game and it is about applying myself when we are losing wickets and making sure I’m staying around. We have spoken a lot about it as a group that when you lose wickets, it’s hard and you need to rebuild and if you’re in you need to take that responsibility to stay in.”

Australia seek to make 1-1 advantage count

by n8rngtd.top Uncategorized

Australia appear to have momentum on their side after a crushing win at Lord’s but the series is poised at 1-1 with three Tests to play

Daniel Brettig at Edgbaston28-Jul-2015It was Peter Siddle, back home after the miniature epic two-Test series against South Africa in 2011, who described the result as “a good one-all series win”. Having humiliated the Australians in Cape Town, South Africa walked away unfulfilled. Having scrambled to a cathartic victory in Johannesburg thanks largely to Pat Cummins, Michael Clarke’s team were understandably chuffed, even if they did not win the series.Entering the Edgbaston Ashes Test there is a similar sense of the scoreboard not reflecting how the two teams see themselves. After a surprise defeat at Cardiff, Australia’s demolition of England at Lord’s carried the air of natural order restored, and the confident strut of the tourists appears to be that of a team in the ascendant. England, meanwhile, are the men on the run, having changed their team and batting order while also looking warily towards the fitness of the third seamer Mark Wood.It would be easy then to be lulled into the impression that Australia will rumble on smoothly to the retention of the urn, having responded to England’s opening salvo with a riposte more or less twice the size. A certain sense of the triumphal accompanied Australian celebrations at Lord’s, which is always a major event match for the number of Cricket Australia management, board directors and corporate backers present. In the midst of the post-match revelry, one or two sober observers could have been forgiven for thinking “hang on, isn’t it only 1-1?”Not only is it 1-1, it is also 8-3. That’s the ledger in Ashes Tests in England over the past decade, with the hosts stretching out a major advantage over that time by winning three series in 2005, 2009 and 2013. Lord’s was a vast Australia victory, but it was also a rare one. Similarly lopsided victories at Headingley in 2009 and Lord’s again in 2005 proved to be statistical outliers. The Cardiff result was far more representative of those recorded by Australian cricketers on these shores.More broadly, Australia sides have struggled for a long time to win consecutive Test matches away from home. Taking out the struggling West Indies this year, they have not followed an overseas win with another in the same series since New Zealand as far back as March 2010. That is not a record to be proud of for a team that speaks with plenty of awareness about consistent overseas success as the measure of a top team.Famously, England came to Edgbaston in 2005 having lost heavily at Lord’s and in desperate search of a way to get back into the series. Glenn McGrath duly trod on a ball, Ricky Ponting took leave of his senses at the toss and a classic encounter ensued. Clarke was the youngest member of that Australian side, and learned more in that one defeat than he had in any of the four series wins he had been a part of prior. A decade on, the memory lingers.”I think the most important thing I’ve learned over my career is you have to start again,” he said. “Whether that be as a batter coming off 100 or 200 or as a bowler you feel like you’re on top of your game, when you walk out there you start again. It’s a brand new game, so that’s really important for us as a team that we come with the same attitude we had at Lord’s, that same hunger to want to have success, but realise that we start on zero.”This team from what I continually see, the way the guys trained and prepared in Derby to their attitude here yesterday when it was raining, and guys still found a way to get done what they needed to, there’s no doubt that hunger’s in the system. It’s important for us to run with this momentum while we have it, take confidence from Lord’s but also remember how disciplined England were in Cardiff and we know how good an opposition they are.”The momentum Clarke spoke about has had to cope with various potential speed bumps on the way, as the team finds itself evolving and regenerating in the middle of an Ashes series. Clarke has had to deal with the demotion of his longtime lieutenant Brad Haddin for this match, having already watched as Ryan Harris retired and Shane Watson was dropped. There will be a lot of experience on Australia’s drinks bench this week, and a lot of young Ashes combatants needing to know this series is far from over.”When you’re on tour I see the success as being about every one of the guys who are here, not just the 11 who take the field,” Clarke said of the changing face of his team. “I’m not too concerned, obviously there’s some things that have been out of our control, but it’s about playing your best cricket. I said before this tour I was really happy with the squad we have because it was about options. Hopefully the squad continues to perform like we did at Lord’s.”Australia achieved a fine victory at the Home of Cricket, but it will mean little if they cannot follow it up here. Most reasonable measures of the two sides would have them doing so, particularly after Chris Rogers was passed fit to lead the line at the top of the order. But the consistency for which Australia have successfully striven down under in recent times has been absent for more than a decade in England. The test of their resolve is clear.

Warner out of England ODIs with thumb fracture

by n8rngtd.top Uncategorized

A broken thumb has ruled David Warner out of the remainder of Australia’s five-match ODI series against England

Daniel Brettig05-Sep-2015Australia’s vice-captain David Warner is facing the tightest of schedules to make the October Test tour of Bangladesh after x-rays revealed he had suffered a fractured left thumb when struck by his first ball from Steven Finn in the second ODI against England at Lord’s.Warner’s injury is expected to keep him out of action for up to six weeks, meaning he will struggle to be available for at least the first of the two Tests on the subcontinent, leaving the Australian selectors needing to consider an all-new opening combination for the assignment following the retirement of Chris Rogers.Joe Burns and Cameron Bancroft are leading contenders to go to Bangladesh. Warner will be eager to tour as part of a new leadership combination alongside the recently-appointed captain, Steven Smith.”I’m not 100% sure if he’s out of the first Test yet, but he’s got a little fracture in his thumb,” Smith said of Warner. “It was disappointing to lose him in that fashion today, but I thought the boys stood up really well and got the job done. That was the most important thing at present, and I think looking forward got to find someone else to potentially fill the role that he won’t be able to do.”I’m really looking forward to it [Bangladesh] to be honest. I can’t wait to captain Australia in Test cricket, and hopefully I’ll be able to have a few senior players around to lean on.”Aaron Finch, who missed initial selection for this squad as a result of a broken foot sustained while playing for Yorkshire, is now fit again and has been called into the squad to replace Warner for the England ODIs. “It’s very exciting to be back,” Finch said. “It’s unfortunate for David Warner for me to come in under these circumstances, that’s not ideal, but these things happen in cricket and it’s great for me to be back.”Upon being struck by Finn in the day’s first over, Warner immediately retired hurt and did not bat again in the innings, though he did briefly test out the injury in the Nursery End nets after taking painkillers. Warner has played every Test for Australia – 24 in all – since his recall to the team for the third Test of the previous Ashes tour.Shane Watson also spent time off the field in the afternoon, having suffered what a Cricket Australia spokesperson described as a “minor right calf strain”. He will undergo scans once the team arrives in Manchester on Sunday to determine his availability for the rest of this series.

Farbrace concerned about England's catching

by n8rngtd.top Uncategorized

Paul Farbrace, England’s assistant coach, has expressed concern about the standard of his team’s catching during the first of their two warm-up games

ESPNcricinfo staff07-Oct-2015Paul Farbrace, England’s assistant coach, has expressed concern about the standard of his team’s catching during the first of their two warm-up games against Pakistan A in Sharjah.Despite a generally encouraging first outing in the fierce desert heat of the UAE, in which Alastair Cook, Joe Root, Jonny Bairstow and Adil Rashid all made half-centuries before Moeen Ali and Mark Wood impressed with the ball, Farbrace warned his players not to squander the chances that come their way in what could be an attritional three-Test series.Pakistan A closed the second and final day of the warm-up match on 216 for 5, but England were made to toil during a wicketless afternoon session in which Iftikhar Ahmed (92 not out) and Fawad Alam (55) added 112 in a 44-over partnership.However, their resistance was aided when Cook dropped a sharp chance in the slips off Stuart Broad when Iftikhar had made just 11. Moeen also missed a caught-and-bowled off Fawad, before late in the day, Adnan Akmal edged through the gap between Jos Buttler, the keeper, and Cook at first slip.”The application with the ball was outstanding,” Farbrace said. “The one thing we’ve just had a quick chat about is that, to win a Test match, you’ve got to take 20 chances – and we’ve missed a couple of chances [here].”That’s something we’ll have to work very hard on, and something we prided ourselves on in the Ashes series.”England’s fielding during the Ashes was one of the outstanding features of their 3-2 series win, and owed much to an intensive training camp in Spain prior to the series, when Trevor Bayliss, the new coach, made it an imperative to hone his players’ reflexes.The iconic moment of the summer duly arrived on the first morning at Trent Bridge, when Ben Stokes in the gully took an outstanding one-handed catch off an incredulous Broad, as Australia were rolled aside for 60.That, however, is in the past now, as England look to build on their Ashes success in very different conditions.Moeen Ali took three wickets but dropped a return catch•Getty Images

“We’re coming here knowing it’s going to be a very, very tough series,” Farbrace said. “I said at the end of the Australian series I expected this to be a tougher series for us to play in. We knew it was going to be tough, very different obviously from conditions we’ve just played in the Ashes.”We’ve still got a good few days to go, so there’ll be plenty of catching done over the next few days. But generally, I think we had a really good two days. We saw how players adapted quite quickly to the situation and conditions.England’s senior players in particular know what is at stake in the coming weeks. Cook, Broad, Ian Bell and James Anderson all played on the last England tour to the UAE in 2012, in which they were beaten 3-0 in spite of having opportunities to dominate in the second and third Tests.”We’ve got senior players who’ve been here and experienced it, and I think there was a feeling that – although they lost the last Test series here 3-0 – it was one they could quite easily have won,” Farbrace said. “They didn’t, that’s history, it’s gone now.”But I think we’ve got a great chance with this group to play some really good cricket, and we’re looking to be as positive as we possibly can be.”England’s line-up for the first Test appeared to become a touch clearer after the first warm-up, with Moeen opening the batting alongside Cook and Rashid’s legspin getting a useful airing as well.”Mo’s had first go in this practice game, and we were very pleased with the way he applied himself,” Farbrace said. “It’s exciting [to have two spinners bowling together]. It’s the way we want to go, and I know Trevor is a huge fan of two spinners in the side.”In the middle order, Bairstow took his opportunity with an unbeaten 66, having been chosen ahead of James Taylor for the first match.However, Farbrace insisted there was still everything to play for when the second warm-up gets underway tomorrow.”Everybody in the 16, I think, genuinely has an opportunity at this stage,” he said. “I wouldn’t rule anything in or out, and I think we need to keep our options open as long as we possibly can.”

Nineteen overseas players picked in BPL draft

by n8rngtd.top Uncategorized

Eighty-two players, including 19 overseas players, were allocated through a lottery during the BPL draft in Dhaka on Thursday

Mohammad Isam22-Oct-2015Eighty-two players, including 19 overseas players, were allocated through a lottery during the BPL draft in Dhaka on Thursday. Out of the 63 local players, the selection of the six icons came at the end of the draft. Rangpur, which had the first pick, chose Shakib Al Hasan, Tamim Iqbal was selected by Chittagong, Mashrafe Mortaza by Comilla, Mushfiqur Rahim by Sylhet, Mahmudullah by Barisal, and Nasir Hossain by Dhaka.According to BPL secretary Ismail Haider Mallick, the list of foreign cricketers signed outside the draft includes Shahid Afridi (Sylhet), Chris Gayle (Barisal) and Kumar Sangakkara (Dhaka) as well as Pakistan fast bowler Mohammad Amir (Chittagong), who recently returned to cricket after serving out a suspension for spot-fixing. There is a dispute over Tillakaratne Dilshan after both the Rangpur and Chittagong franchises claimed they had signed him. Mallick said that the BPL governing council will investigate the documents from the two franchises before taking a decision on the matter.Chris Jordan was the first foreign player to be chosen in the draft, by Sylhet, while three other English players – Darren Stevens, Josh Cobb and Dawid Malan – were also picked. Jordan, however, is unlikely to be available for the entire duration of the BPL, which is scheduled between November 22 and December 15. The England fast bowler will be with the Test squad in the UAE until November 30 and is due to be a part of the Performance Camp training squad in Dubai. He may also be picked for England’s tour of South Africa, which starts with a tour match in Potchefstroom on December 15.Seven Pakistan players, including Saeed Ajmal and Mohammad Sami, were selected, while five Sri Lanka players and a cricketer each from South Africa (Robin Peterson), West Indies (Andre Russell) and Afghanistan (Mohammad Nabi) were chosen in the draft.After the draft started at around 11.20am on Thursday, Rangpur got four first picks in all, including the icon pick. Chittagong and Comilla got two first picks, while Dhaka and Sylhet got one each in the normal round of the draft.Mahbubul Anam, the BCB vice-president, moderated the draft and had to explain the rules of the draft a number of times, but the process appeared to be a smarter way of allocating players compared to the auctions that had been held for the previous editions of the BPL. Those auctions had seen a lull in the middle and end periods, when franchises did not show an interest in the players lined up.There were no excess calls for players from the commissioner as many of the teams opted to quit calling after picking the minimum number of foreign and local players required. They have the option of calling up more players within the next seven days if needed.Barisal: Mahmudullah (icon), Chris Gayle, Brendan Taylor, Kevon Cooper, Evin Lewis, Seekkuge Prasanna, Mohammad Sami, Imad Wasim, Sabbir Rahman, Sohag Gazi, Taijul Islam, Rony Talukdar, Al-Amin Hossain, Shahriar Nafees, Mehedi Maruf, Nadif Chowdhury, Mohammad Sharifullah, Sajidul Islam.Chittagong: Tamim Iqbal (icon), Umar Akmal, Chamara Kapugedera, Mohammad Amir, Elton Chigumbura, Kamran Akmal, Robin Peterson, Saeed Ajmal, Jeevan Mendis, Anamul Haque, Taskin Ahmed, Ziaur Rahman, Naeem Islam, Enamul Haque jnr, Shafiul Islam, Nafees Iqbal, Elias Sunny, Yasir Ali Chowdhury, Asif Ahmed.Comilla: Mashrafe Mortaza (icon), Sunil Narine, Shoaib Malik, Marlon Samuels, Ahmed Shehzad, Krishmar Santokie, Andre Russell, Nuwan Kulasekara, Lahiru Thirimanne, Darren Stevens, Liton Das, Imrul Kayes, Shuvagata Hom, Sanjamul Islam, Kamrul Islam Rabbi, Ariful Haque, Mahmudul Hasan, Naeem Islam jnr, Abu Hider, Dhiman Ghosh.Dhaka: Nasir Hossain (icon), Kumar Sangakkara, Ryan ten Doeschate, Mohammad Irfan, Yasir Shah, Nasir Jamshed, Sohail Khan, Dawid Malan, Shahzaib Hasan, Mustafizur Rahman, Mosharraf Hossain, Mosaddek Hossain Saikat, Shamsur Rahman, Saikat Ali, Farhad Reza, Nabil Samad, Abul Hasan, Irfan Shukkur.Rangpur: Shakib Al Hasan (icon), Lendl Simmons, Darren Sammy, Thisara Perera, Wahab Riaz, Sachithra Senanayake, Mohammad Nabi, Soumya Sarkar, Arafat Sunny, Mohammad Mithun, Muktar Ali, Saqlain Sajib, Jahurul Islam, Abu Jayed Chowdhury, Murad Khan, Rasel Al Mamun.Sylhet: Mushfiqur Rahim (icon), Shahid Afridi, Ravi Bopara, Brad Hodge, Ajantha Mendis, Chris Jordan, Sohail Tanvir, Joshua Cobb, Rubel Hossain, Mominul Haque, Abdur Razzak, Nurul Hasan, Mohammad Shahid, Najmul Islam, Junaid Siddique, Nazmul Hossain Milon, Abu Sayem.