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Paul Collingwood, England’s new assistant coach for the tour of West Indies and the World Twenty20, has said that he always needed Kevin Pietersen in his team

ESPNcricinfo staff17-Feb-2014Paul Collingwood, England’s new assistant coach for the tour of West Indies and the World Twenty20, has said that he always needed Kevin Pietersen in his team and that any side would try anything to retain a player of his ability.Collingwood, who was handed his new role last week, played 300 times for England across all three formats – many of them alongside Pietersen – and was the captain of both the ODI and T20 sides. He led England to their one piece of global silverware, the 2010 World T20 in West Indies, where Pietersen was named Player of the Tournament.Collingwood’s international career ended when he was dropped following the 2011 World Cup – having earlier retired from Test cricket after the 2010-11 Ashes – which means he has not been involved in the side during the most recent of Pietersen’s controversies; the 2012 text messages involving the South Africans and now his sacking.However, Collingwood was a central figure in the side during the previous Pietersen-inspired crisis for English cricket – when he ousted Peter Moores as coach in late 2008 and was stripped of the captaincy – but never felt Pietersen had become unmanageable.”You will always try to find a way of keeping KP in the side,” he told the after a spell coaching Scotland as they qualified for 2015 World Cup. “But the last three years it just seems that the relationships have become so unmanageable between both sides that it hasn’t been able to work any more. You just can’t function.”I don’t know if this has been happening, but if you orientate too much around one player, and not the whole team, then it becomes an issue. From the outside you can see that there have been occasions over the last few years where he has obviously upset the apple cart.”But I always felt that I was needing KP in the side, and he’d never, at that point when I left the England team, he’d never become unmanageable as what it looks like he has now.”The end of Pietersen’s career comes despite Ashley Giles, the limited-overs coach, calling him a “million-pound asset” and reports that Stuart Broad, the Twenty20 captain, wanted him in the side.On the field, Pietersen and Collingwood had a strong relationship when they batted together: they averaged 60.04 as a pair with nine century stands including their 310 against Australia, in Adelaide, in 2006-07.”I’ve played with KP for pretty much six years, five and a half years, and he won a lot for England,” Collingwood said. “I probably wouldn’t be sitting here as a World Cup winner if it wasn’t for KP.”Collingwood is entering an England coaching set-up in a state of flux following the departure of Andy Flower and a new head coach is unlikely to be named until after the World T20. Ashley Giles, the limited-overs coach, remains the favourite to take charge and Collingwood gave his former team-mate wholehearted backing as they begin their new partnership.One of the reasons Flower gave for relinquishing his position was that he felt England needed one head coach across all formats – rather than the split roles introduced last year – which is something Collingwood supports.”Ashley is obviously early on in his international coaching career, but I think he’d be very good if he gets the three formats and I think that’s quite important now that the next coach does take the three formats over and really puts his stamp on the England team culture, the ethics and all that kind of stuff”I think Ashley’s done a good job with the players that he’s had in the one-day and the T20 form of the game. A lot of the time he does lose some of his best players because you’ve got to balance out the fatigue factor for Test cricket. So I think he’s definitely the next man in line for the job.”

Kusal Perera’s well-paced maiden ODI century helped Sri Lanka clinch the ODI series 3-0 and Sri Lanka captain Angelo Mathews said the opener had shown maturity to set up the win in the absence of the team’s senior players

Mohammad Isam in Mirpur22-Feb-2014’Maybe we’re taking on too much pressure’

Bangladesh captain Mushfiqur Rahim has said the team needs to work on all areas of the game after the 3-0 series loss to Sri Lanka.
“We have to work on all three departments, especially fielding and catching,” Mushfiqur said. “The set batsmen have to take more responsibility so that they can play big innings. The death bowling also has to improve. It hasn’t showed up in these matches but in the coming matches, this will be important.”
Mushfiqur was concerned with the way some players put too much pressure on themselves, saying they might have missed few important processes as a result.
“A win comes at the end of the day, before that the processes are important. We may have lost sight of the processes. As a team maybe we are taking on too much pressure.”

Kusal Perera’s well-paced maiden ODI century helped Sri Lanka clinch the ODI series 3-0 and Sri Lanka captain Angelo Mathews said the opener had shown maturity to set up the win in the absence of the team’s senior players.”Kusal Perera showed lot of maturity today,” Mathews said. “We didn’t have senior guys and someone had to step up. I am glad that he and Dinesh Chadimal did. He doesn’t change his game, at any point. We have always told him to believe in himself and he batted brilliantly.”We never say anything to any of our batters unless it is absolutely needed. We always told him [Perera] to enjoy and bat the way he does because if he gets the start, he will win more games for us.”The opener began quietly but opened up with a four and two sixes. However, he did not hit a boundary between the 10th and 23rd overs when Sri Lanka needed to rebuild after quick wickets. Along with Dinesh Chandimal, Perera ensured Sri Lanka were able to control the required run rate in spite of a few quiet overs.While his first 50 came off 80 balls, the next fifty runs took 38 balls as the batsman surpassed his previous best of 64 against Pakistan. It was also his second fifty-plus score against Bangladesh.Sri Lanka were also helped by Suranga Lakmal, who bowled the most economical spell of his 21-match ODI career. He gave away 24 runs and took two wickets, and his use of the crease, lengths and change of pace were apt in all situations.”Suranga [Lakmal] was brilliant today. I thought he bowled eight overs for eight runs. We didn’t have Lasith Malinga so he had the burden of bowling well and he did exactly that,” Mathews said. “I am very pleased with the way he bowled today, as well as Dinesh Chandimal who ran into good form today.”According to Mathews, Sri Lanka’s rally from 67 for 8 to an eventually match-winning total of 180 in the first ODI was the turning point of the series.”We had the fighting spirit,” Mathews said. “When we were 67 for 8, most of you guys would have thought we would have given up the game but we hung in there.”Thisara [Perera] played a really good knock and from there onwards it was just going on. We always believed in ourselves, believed in our team spirit. We never give up. We are really pleased with the guys.”

Michael Carberry, who preceded the season by being critical of England for leaving him out of the limited-overs sides without adequate explanation, began with a six-ball duck

ESPNcricinfo staff06-Apr-2014
ScorecardMichael Carberry made a duck as he tried to put England rejection behind him•Getty ImagesMichael Carberry, who preceded the season by being critical of England for leaving him out of the limited-overs sides without adequate explanation, began with a six-ball duck for Hampshire as they struggled to 37 for 3 in a rain-reduced opening to their Division Two match against Worcestershire at West End.The visitors won the toss and chose to field but play was held up after rain affected the Rose Bowl outfield, with the match finally getting under way in mid-afternoon.Hampshire lost opener Carberry when he fell lbw at the end of the first over to Chris Russell, who was also responsible for James Vince departing without scoring six overs later. Between those dismissals, Liam Dawson was bowled for two by Charles Morris.Carberry’s fellow opener Jimmy Adams scored freely to reach 32 not out, before the umpires called stumps midway through the ninth over.

Glenn Maxwell took home his third straight Man-of-the-Match award as Kings XI Punjab coasted to their third straight victory

The Report by Siddarth Ravindran22-Apr-2014
Scorecard and ball-by-ball details
11:13

Agarkar: Maxwell’s shot-making ability amazing

Last season, Glenn Maxwell was the punchline to tons of millionaire jokes. He warmed the Mumbai Indians bench for much of the campaign, and was a peripheral figure in the three matches he did play. This time, the season is only a week old, and he’s not just played three matches, he’s been the Man of the Match in each.The people laughing now will be Kings XI Punjab’s owners who will view the million dollars they sunk on Maxwell as a bargain given the three impressive wins he has orchestrated at the start of the season. If the previous two victories had been thrilling encounters in which Kings XI hunted down massive scores, this was a forgettably one-sided affair after Maxwell put on a show again to lead the side to 193. Especially after L Balaji removed David Warner and Aaron Finch in the fifth over.Sunrisers Hyderabad have a dangerous top order – any of Shikhar Dhawan, Warner or Finch can single-handedly transform a match – but they also have a dangerously unbalanced batting line-up. After the big three, the batting is alarmingly thin – KL Rahul is still finding his way at this level, Venugopal Rao isn’t someone teams are going to worry about too much, Irfan Pathan is a spot too high at No. 6 and Darren Sammy is great at providing the finishing touches but less proficient at building the base.Once Mitchell Johnson accounted for Dhawan and Balaji made his double breakthrough, it was a hour-long dirge for Sunrisers’ fans before it ended in a crushing 72-run defeat, leaving them with plenty of questions over the composition of the team.Warner won’t just be disappointed with his low score, but also with his botched catch that reprieved Maxwell on 11. With Wriddhiman Saha slotted for No. 6, Kings XI don’t have too much depth in their batting, something Sunrisers could have capitalised on had Warner held on to a fairly straightforward chance at long-off in the 10th over.Instead, the chance went went down and Maxwell went on to pillage 95 off 43, including nine sixes. The highlight of the onslaught was the 13th over when Maxwell effortlessly cleared midwicket off the first three deliveries before launching one towards the sightscreen to take 25 runs off Amit Mishra. This innings had fewer of the switch-hits and reverse-sweeps and was more about clean hitting down the ground and, especially, over midwicket.It was the prefect setting for Maxwell as the openers Cheteshwar Pujara and Virender Sehwag had provided a fast start from which he could build. He had plenty of luck as well – besides the Warner reprieve, he was caught off a no-ball, a skier was in the air for ages but evaded everyone when it landed at midwicket. Sunrisers also didn’t bring on their main weapon, Dale Steyn, when Maxwell was in the midst of his carnage. Till he was 72 off 29, Maxwell faced neither Steyn nor Bhuvneshwar Kumar – both of whom combined to limit the damage at the end of the innings.Still, though Kings XI didn’t reach the 200 that they looked nailed on for, they reached a total which proved far too much for Sunrisers.

Twenty20 may be removed from James Pattinson’s bowling rehab diet after it emerged that the fast bowler is suffering from a recurrence of back stress injury and has no certain return date for the resumption of his international career

Daniel Brettig05-May-2014Twenty20 may be removed from James Pattinson’s rehab diet after it emerged that the fast bowler is suffering from a recurrence of back stress trouble and has no certain return date for the resumption of his international career.Among the re-signed pace bowling mentor Craig McDermott’s more pressing assignments is to oversee further work to refine the bowling action of Pattinson, who once again fell prey to back problems following his lively return to the Test team in the deciding Test match of the South Africa series at Newlands in March.While initially Cricket Australia described Pattinson as simply complaining of “lower back soreness”, further examination has revealed evidence of stress on his back. McDermott is adamant that at the age of 24, Pattinson should not be rushed back into service until a sustainable technique can be put into place.”With Patto it’ll depend how he heals, first and foremost. That’s got to improve from a clinical point of view before we get to the path we’ll go down with his technical side of it,” McDermott told ESPNcricinfo. “The timeline on that hasn’t even been determined yet, so we’ll just see how he progresses over the next few months.”I want to make sure we take our time and get it right. He’s obviously having some sort of trouble with his skeletal make up that’s not coping at his age. He’s almost at the age where you’d think he’s not going to get too many more problems, but everyone’s different. Patto does bowl fast, he’s not a 130kph bowler, so we’ve got to make sure we get him right and take our time to bring him back nice and slowly.”Pattinson’s performance in the match was particularly notable considering it was his first red ball fixture of any kind since suffering a stress fracture in the Lord’s Test last year. Unready for the first bracket of Sheffield Shield matches and then in South Africa for the second, Pattinson was compelled to make his return in the Big Bash League with the Melbourne Renegades.Efforts to improve his technique and groove it during long-from cricket were thus frustrated by a format in which pacemen are obliged to bowl at top speed but also change their action on a ball-to-ball basis for slower deliveries, wide yorkers and other variations.”There’s been some discussion about bringing him back through club cricket and formats where he can settle into a rhythm,” McDermott said. “T20 cricket is always difficult to bring blokes back through, because they’re under the pump, bowling different balls all the time.”It’s a yorker, then a slower-ball bouncer, then a good-length ball or a wide yorker. And if they’re getting whacked by the batsmen they’re not going to bowl at 80% and build things up gradually. It’s not in their make-up, and it’s certainly not in Patto’s make-up because he’s such a competitor.”Elsewhere Ryan Harris is continuing his recovery from overdue knee surgery, though McDermott agreed with the 34-year-old paceman that a return in time for Australia’s next Test match assignment against Pakistan in the UAE would be doubtful. More likely is Harris’ participation in the 2015 World Cup, having not played an ODI since 2012 as the selectors sought to preserve his body.”He’s definitely touch and go for Dubai, we’ve just got to see how his knee goes over the next few months. You’ve got to start bowling workloads about six or eight weeks before that to get right for Test match level,” McDermott said. “We’ve just got to monitor him to see how his knee’s coping with his rehabilitation, and see if it’s possible to get him up for there.”I don’t think there’s any point rushing Ryano either, we’ve got a lot of cricket with India, World Cup, West Indies and the Ashes, we’ve got to make sure he’s 100% when he comes back. If he’s fully fit he’s certainly someone who can quite easily play in the one day team. He’s got all the firepower, the variations and he’s very experienced. I’m sure if he’s fit he’ll be certainly looked at.”

Shoaib Malik and Kamran Akmal have been axed from the PCB’s central contracts list for 2014, while senior batsman Younis Khan has been demoted from Category A to Category B

Umar Farooq05-Jun-2014Shoaib Malik and Kamran Akmal have been axed from the PCB’s central contracts list for 2014, while senior batsman Younis Khan has been demoted from category A to category B. Fast bowler Junaid Khan has been promoted from B to A, in the list of 31 contracted players.Younis, a veteran of 89 Tests and 253 ODIs, was dropped from the one-day squad last year and since then has been a Test specialist. He earned a category A contract last year and was among the fittest players in the recently conceded summer camp but found himself demoted. Umar Akmal and Umar Gul were retained in category B.Ahmed Shehzad, who played three Test matches against Sri Lanka in UAE earlier this year and scored a century in the World T20, was upgraded to B from C last year and remained in that category. Apart from Malik and Kamran, Imran Farhat, Aizaz Cheema and Taufeeq Umar were left out of the pool of contracted players this year. Both Malik and Kamran had been omitted from the month-long summer camp in Lahore, because the selectors weren’t satisfied with their recent performances in the World T20.Category D, also known as the stipends category, includes promising players like Sharjeel Khan, Ehsan Adil, Raza Hasan, Haris Sohail and Shan Masood. Test wicketkeeper Adnan Akmal, who injured his finger last year against Sri Lanka, was retained in category C, while his replacement Sarfaraz Ahmed was retained in D.Fast bowler Mohammad Irfan, who was sidelined for nearly six months due to a hip injury, was slotted in the lowest category. The PCB said the factors considered were form, fitness levels and future potential. Irfan’s injury prone history was the reason he was included in the lowest category. He is hopeful of playing limited-overs matches later this year but has ruled out appearing in Tests. He is optimistic of playing a big part in the World Cup next year.The PCB increased the retainership by 25% for the second straight year despite Pakistan’s average performance through 2013. They played eight Tests, winning two and losing five; 34 ODIs, winning and losing 16 each, and 12 T20s, winning eight and losing four. They also failed to reach the semifinals of the World T20 in Bangladesh.The PCB had planned to reduce the number of central contacts to 22, but it was increased to 31. Last year, 30 contracts were handed out and for 2014, the idea was to downsize and retain only those who are likely to play throughout the year.However, on releasing the list of contracts, the PCB said: “The 31 contacts are awarded to established players and young ones with future potential – with across-the-board increases in remunerations. The standout feature this year is that not only the monthly retainer has been substantively increased, but also match fees for Test and ODI cricket have seen steep upward revision.”Category A (Rs 449, 218 per month): Misbah-ul-Haq, Mohammad Hafeez, Saeed Ajmal, Shahid Afridi, Junaid KhanCategory B (Rs 314,452): Younis Khan, Ahmed Shehzad, Umar Akmal, Umar GulCategory C (Rs 179,687): Asad Shafiq, Azhar Ali, Adnan Akmal, Khurram Manzoor, Nasir Jamshed, Abdul RehmanCategory D (Rs 89,843) : Sohaib Maqsood, Sarfaraz Ahmed, Bilawal Bhatti, Sharjeel Khan, Zulfiqar Babar, Fawad Alam, Ehsan Adil, Mohammad Irfan, Wahab Riaz, Raza Hasan, Umar Amin, Haris Sohail, Rahat Ali, Shaan Masood, Mohammad Talha, Anwar Ali

Lack of funds and administrative lags hampering development of cricket in the country

Rachna Shetty02-Jul-2014The World T20 in March was Nepal’s first global event. They finished second behind Bangladesh in the qualifying round, beat Hong Kong and Afghanistan and earned themselves a legion of fans. Last week, they were awarded T20 international status. Between March and June, however, the dominant theme of cricket in Nepal has been one of uncertainty, a result of administrative lags and lack of funds.Soon after the team returned from Bangladesh, the national team players boycotted a national one-day tournament after a dispute with the board. The impasse was resolved only after the formation of an advisory committee to monitor the development of cricket in the country. One of the members on the advisory committee is Pubudu Dassanayake and his role as coach is at the centre of some more ambiguity in the country.After the World T20, Cricket Association of Nepal’s executive committee had said that Dassanayake would be given a year’s extension. However, after the tournament, the board came under investigation from the Commission for Investigation into Abuse of Authority and could not endorse the executive committee’s decision. Dassanayake left the country in early June with unresolved issues and his contract with Nepal expired at the end of the month.Local reports suggest the Nepalese government is planning to intervene to help CAN retain Dassanayake’s services but acting general secretary Uttam Karmacharya said the board had not received official word on the matter.”We have not extended Pubudu’s contract,” Karmacharya said. “The government may have made an offer but we haven’t received anything formally from them. We have also heard of this only through the media. We will discuss the appointment of a coach only after funds start coming in.”Dassanayake also said he had not been contacted. “I have not been contacted by anyone so far except the media,” he told ESPNcricinfo through email.Dassanayake had replaced Roy Dias as Nepal coach in 2011. Under his guidance, Nepal qualified for the World T20s, but missed out on a World Cup 2015 berth. The possibility of his exit prompted national captain Paras Khadka to post a message on Facebook saying he would quit cricket if Dassanayake was not reinstated as coach.CAN itself is in upheaval. In May, some members of CAN filed a no-confidence motion against its president, Tanka Angbuhang Limbu, after the running of the Nepal Premier League was outsourced to a private sports management firm. In June, 10 members of CAN, including president Angbuhang, vice-president Chatur Bahadur Chand and secretary Ashok Nath Pyakuryal had to give up their posts following CIAA’s investigation. CAN vice-president Tarini Bikram Shah was appointed acting president and Karmacharya, who was the manager of the team in Bangladesh, took over as general secretary.Amid this flux, the financial conditions of the board have not improved. Grants which were due from the ICC and the Asian Cricket Council have not yet materialised because of inefficiencies in the administration and the failure of the board to hire paid professionals in key roles.According to documents seen by ESPNcricinfo, Nepal has fallen foul of an ICC administration statute, which relates to having a paid full-time administrator. Nepal was one of the five Associate and Affiliate members expected to be warned at the ICC’s annual conference last week. The board is currently advertising two positions, for a chief executive and a finance manager, and is also expecting some resolution from the ACC meeting held in Malaysia on Monday, where it was represented by Shah.Karmacharya was hopeful the ACC and the ICC would help the board in resolving the issue, particularly as Nepal were “trying to fulfil their directive”.”The process of hiring a CEO and a finance manager will not happen overnight. We had invited applicants and the last date for that was June 20. Now we will review the applications, shortlist the candidates and then interview them. The process should take another couple of months,” Karmacharya said.Nepal’s next assignments are the Asian Games in Incheon, South Korea in September and the ACC Championship. For them to live up to their new T20I status, however, the board will have to move quickly to put things in order.

Dean Elgar, the South Africa batsman, has been reprimanded after pleading guilty to a Level 1 breach of the ICC code of conduct during the fourth day’s play in the one-off Test against Zimbabwe in Harare

ESPNcricinfo staff13-Aug-2014Dean Elgar, the South Africa batsman, has been reprimanded after pleading guilty to a Level 1 breach of the ICC code of conduct during the fourth day’s play in the one-off Test against Zimbabwe in Harare.Elgar was found to have breached Article 2.1.2 of the code, which relates to “Abuse of cricket equipment or clothing, ground equipment or fixtures and fittings during an international match.”The charge related to an incident in the 10th over of South Africa’s second innings, when Elgar, after being bowled, hit a stump with his bat. The charge was brought by on-field umpires Aleem Dar and Chris Gaffaney, third umpire Jeremiah Matibiri and fourth umpire Owen Chirombe.Elgar admitted the offence and accepted the sanction proposed by match referee Roshan Mahanama. As such, there was no need for a formal hearing.All Level 1 breaches carry a minimum penalty of an official reprimand and a maximum penalty of 50% of a player’s match fee.

Michael Clarke will head back to Australia to nurse the hamstring he injured during the tri-series match against Zimbabwe on Sunday

ESPNcricinfo staff31-Aug-2014Michael Clarke will head back to Australia to nurse the hamstring he injured during the tri-series match against Zimbabwe on Sunday. Playing his first match of the series, Clarke batted for over two hours and was troubled by the issue in the latter part of his innings, but top-scored on a turning pitch with 68 before retiring in the 43rd over.”Prognosis for me is I’m on a plane in the next 24 hours to go home and have scans and see what results are and go from there,” Clarke said. “I really wanted to take part in this series and help Australia have some success but that’s not going to be the case.”Clarke returned to the field in the 19th over of Zimbabwe’s innings, taking the captaincy back from George Bailey, and also bowled an over towards the end. When asked the reason for his taking to the field despite the niggle, he said, “It was more the fact that if things weren’t going to go the way I wanted them to go I wanted to make sure I was accountable for that. I didn’t think it was fair to leave that to George. It was up to me to help the team win and if we didn’t get the result we wanted then I’m 100 per cent accountable for that. No idea (about tear) or if I did more damage by going back out.”Clarke had initially injured the hamstring – believed to be triggered by the long-haul flight – during a training session after arriving in Zimbabwe and was forced to sit out Australia’s first two matches. He had said on Friday that he needed more time compared to others to adjust after long-distance travel and would consider travelling earlier for important tours in future.Last year, Clarke missed the Champions Trophy in England when his chronic back injury caused him problems upon arrival in the country. Australia’s next tour is against Pakistan in the UAE and it kicks off with a T20, which Clarke will not play, allowing him extra time to adjust. The next year could be gruelling for Clarke with a number of overseas tours stacked up.

Monty Panesar completed match figures of 11 for 168 as Essex kept up their promotion hopes by easing to their fourth Division Two win of the season, beating Glamorgan by 63 runs on the final morning at Swansea.

Press Association18-Aug-2014
ScorecardTom Westley finished off Glamorgan to finish with three wickets•Getty ImagesMonty Panesar completed match figures of 11 for 168 as Essex eased to their fourth Division Two win of the season as they beat Glamorgan by 63 runs on the final morning at Swansea.The victory keeps up Essex’s hopes of getting into the fight for promotion, while it was Glamorgan’s fourth straight defeat.Glamorgan required 111 to win with only two wickets remaining when they resumed on 237 for 8. It took Essex only 14 balls to break the ninth-wicket partnership when Graham Wagg became Panesar’s sixth victim of the innings, failing to add to his overnight 64.Wagg and Dean Cosker had ensured the match went into the fourth day after surviving the final 14 overs on Sunday after Essex had claimed the extra half-hour. But in the third over of the morning Wagg went to a bat and pad catch to Nick Browne at short leg.Cosker and Michael Hogan also frustrated Essex for nine overs, adding 43. But after 35 minutes of play Hogan gave Tom Westley a return catch to confirm Essex’s victory. Essex took an important 21 points from the match to Glamorgan’s three.